THE LIVES 

OF 

WILLIAM McKINLEY 

AND- - 

GARRET A. HOBART 

Republican Presidential Candidates of 1896 



AN AUTHORIZED, IMPARTIAL, AUTHENTIC, AND COMPLETE HISTORY 
OF THEIR PUBLIC CAREER AND PRIVATE LIVES 

FROM BOYHOOD TO THE PRESENT DATE 

WITH 

Snecootes, Incidents, {personal IReminiscenccs, ©rapbtc 
fl>en=fl>fcture0, anD Gbrillfng Storg 

CONTAINING ALSO 

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY FROM ITS RISE 
TO THE PRESENT TIME>(TIIE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 
STATES AND ITS FORMATION ; AND A COMPLETE SUM- 
MARY OF THE LIVES OF ALL THE PRESIDENTS, 
.FROM WASHINGTON TO CLEVELAND ~) 



By HENRY B. RUSSELL 



ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS AND FULL PAGE ENGRAVINGS 



%. D. TRBortbinfltcn &. Co. 
TbartforO, Conn. /* 



Hlu>S£ 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1896, 

By A. D. Worthington & Company, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



TO 

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 

AVHICH 

CONTROLLED THE DESTINIES OF A GREAT NATION 

FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY, 

SAFELY GUIDED IT 

$it tlje <§xtutt&t <&ra of f rogrrss the llorlb bas tba Jtnofott, 

AND 

ON WHICH TO-DAY THE HOPES OF A PATRIOTIC 
PEOPLE DEPEND, 

THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED. 




POPULAR interest is justly attracted to the life and 
work of men selected by their party as candidates 
for the highest honors in the gift of a great nation. 
They are men who represent the political purposes of mil- 
lions of patriotic people; and their personality, the incidents 
of their careers, their rise to popularity and fame become 
subjects of interest to all. It is the object of this volume to 
tell the story of the Republican presidential candidates of 
1896, to record facts, incidents, and experiences that will 
reveal the character of the men and enable us to see them 
as they are. 

The story of "William McKinley's life cannot fail to ap- 
peal to the minds and hearts of all who believe in their 
country. His is a career which well exemplifies the possi- 
bilities of American citizenship. Starting without the ad- 
vantages of wealth or high station, he has made himself 

what he is. Nearly the whole of his active life has been 

(vii) 



Viii PREFACE. 

devi 'led to his country. Beginning as a soldier in the ranks 
thirty-five years ago, he served with distinction till the close 
of the war, and in the long and honorable public career that 
followed he has steadily won his way from obscurity to high 
position and world-wide fame. In these years he has identi- 
fied himself with a public policy never so fondly cherished 
by the people as now. His name has become a household 
word, and even if destiny should have no higher honors in 
store for him, his fame will endure in the annals of the best 
government in the world. It is impossible to obscure the> 
interest in the story of sueh a busy, eventful, and honorable 
life. 

Likewise does the career of Garret A. Hobart exemplify 
one of the best phases of American citizenship, persistent 
and energetic business ability, activity in the productive 
enterprises of a great people, a capacity for honest executive 
management to which the interests of others are entrusted. 

To further enhance the usefulness of the book, chapters 
have been added to tell the story of the formation of the 
Constitution, of the origin and work of the great political 
party in which the candidates have taken so conspicuous and 
honorable a part, and to briefly sketch the lives of the Presi- 
dent-. Taken together, these pages furnish a review of the 
history of the country for more than a hundred years — as 
seen through it< great men. 

To Major McKinley and his friends thanks are due for 
many acts of kindness and assistance in the preparation of 



PREFACE. j x 

this volume. He seldom talks about himself, leaving that 
to his friends, and few public men have so many devoted 
ones aa he. Special pains have been taken to obtain from 
those who have known him for years the most reliable in- 
formation regarding his life and public services, and to se- 
cure accuracy of statement. Major McKinley was asked, 
and kindly consented to examine the proofs, though it should 
be said he is responsible for no comment or construction o f 
mine upon his words or public acts. Deserved eulogy is 
the exclusive right and privilege of the biographer, and that 
he owes to the man whose career he has studied with grow- 
ing interest and admiration. 

HENRY B. RUSSELL. 




from .Special" (pflofograplte mabe erpreBsfg for ffltB H&orft, anb 
from (Driginaf ©esignB 6g (gminenf ($rft6f6. 



1. Portrait of William McKinley, . . To face Title. 

(From his latest photograph.) 

2. Autograph op William McKinley, ... 2 

3. Main Entrance to United States Capitol, . . 10 

4. South View of the White House, . . .34 

5. Ornamental Heading to Chapter I, . . . 35 

6. Musket carried by William McKinley during the 

war, ...... To face 64 

7. McKinley in his Knight Templar's unlform, . " " 64 

8. Portrait of William McKinley, Sr., . . " " 64 

9. Portrait of Mrs. William McKinley, Sr., . " " 64 

10. McKinley's Regiment at the Battle of South Moun- 

tain. — Colonel (afterwards President) Ruther- 
ford B. Hayes wounded, . . . .75 

11. McKinley Serving Hot Coffee to His Regiment in 

the thickest of the Battle of Antietam, To face 82 

" Every man in the regiment was served with hot coffee and warm 
meats, a thing which had never occurred under similar circumstances in 
any other army in the world. He passed under fire, and delivered with 
his own hands these things so essential for the men for whom he was 
laboring." — Ex-President Rutherford B. Hayes. 

12. One of the Brave Deeds on the Battlefield for 

which McKlnley was promoted, . To face 100 

" His Ohio comrades never expected to see him alive again. Once he 
was completely enveloped in the smoke of an exploded shell, but his 
wiry horse emerged from it with McKinley firmly seated." 

(xi) 



xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE. 

13. McKlNLEY SAVING UNION ARTILLERY AT THE BATTLE OF 

Kkk.nstown, ..... To face 104 

•• McKinley called for volunteers, and every man stepped out. Their 
example invigorated the whole regiment, which took hold at once and 
hauled the guns and caissons oil in triumphal procession." 

14. ClIAKCE OF McKlNLEY'S REGIMENT, THE T\VENTY-THLRD 

Ohio, at the Battle of South Mountain, . . Ill 

" A gallant charge was made by the whole regiment, and the enemy 
was dislodged and driven into the woods." 

15. General Sheridan before McKinley's Regiment on 

his famous Ride to Winchester, . . . 123 

16. Portrait of Mrs. William McKinley, . To face 138 

17. The Hall of the House of Representatives in the 

United States Capitol, . . . . . 161 

18. The United States Capitol, from the East, To face 188 
ID. The Senate Chamber in the United States Capitol, 217 

20. The United States Treasury Building, Washington, 277 

21. Birthplace of William McKinley, at Niles, Ohio, 

Toface 312 

22. Present Residence of Mr. and Mrs. McKinley at 

Canton, Ohio, .... Toface 312 

23. Mrs. McKinley's Room in the Canton Residence, 

To face 324 

24. William McKinley in his Study in the Canton 

Residence, ..... Toface 324 

25. Portrait of Garret A. Hobart, . . Toface 336 

26. Main Approach to the White House from Pennsyl- 

vania Avenue, ...... 431 

27. Front View of the President's House, . Toface 444 

28. The Cabinet Room in the White House, Toface 454 

All Cabinet meetings are held, and important national questions are 
discussed by the President and his Cabinet in this room. 

20. The great East Room in the WniTE House, Toface 468 
(Public receptions are given by the President in this room.) 

30. Tin: Green Room in the White House, . Toface 482 

31. Tin'. Blue Room in the White House, . . " " 498 

32. The Red Room in the White House, . . " " 498 

33. The Library in the White House, . . " " 514 

34. Tin; State Bedroom in the White House, . " " 526 







CHAPTER I. 

the Mckinley family — bred in contests for 
freedom and independence. 

William McKinley's Scotch Ancestry — Descended from Mac- 
duff, who Killed Macbeth — The McKinlay Clan and Mc- 
Kinlay the Trooper — " Not too Much " — The McKinlay of 
whom Burns Sang — Emigration of James and William Mc- 
Kinley to this Country about 1742 — Northern McKinley's and 
Southern McKinleys — William McKinley's Great Grand- 
father in the Revolution — Workers in Iron Industry — Mc- 
Kinleys's Mother — Thorough Patriots 35 

CHAPTER II. 

BIRTH AND BOYHOOD — EARLY INFLUENCES IN THE 
McKINLEY HOME AT NILES. 

The Birthplace of McKinley and its Associations — Influences of 
His Father and Mother — No Chances for Idleness in the 
McKinley Family — William and his Share in the family 
Woodpile — A More Bookish than Boyish Boy — The House- 
hold Library — Standard Works of History — Shakespeare a 
Favorite — Dickens for Fiction — Seizing every Opportunity 
for Study— After-dinner Readings in the Family Circle— Every 
Night. Some Member of the Family Read Aloud for an Hour — 
Early to Bed and Early to Rise — Father McKinley a Whig, 
Free Soiler, and Protectionist — He Talked Politics with his 
Children — Religious Influences 45 



(xiii) 



x i v CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

EDUCATION — REMOVAL TO POLAND AND A CHANGE 
OF EN VIRONMENT. 

McKinley's Brief Attendance at a Common School — Removal of 
the McKinley Family to Poland — William Enters the Semi- 
nary at Nine Years of Age — Some of the Teachers and their 
Influence upon McKinley — His Sister Annie — McKinley 
Takes to Creek and Latin — Avails Himself of an Opportunity 
to Study Hebrew with a Methodist Minister — A Literary and 
Oratorical Development — The Literary Society at the Semi- 
nary—Ringing Debates on Burning Questions of the Hour — 
Scrupulous Care in the Maintenance of the Society's Room — 
No Trespassing on the New Carpet, except in Slippers — 
McKinley a burner of Midnight Oil — Fassing the Examina- 
tion to Enter the Junior Class at Allegheny College — 111 
Health — Clerk in a Country Store, 53 

CHAPTER IV. 

A VOLUNTEER IN THE RANKS AT EIGHTEEN — ENLIST- 
MENT AT YOUNGSTOWN. 

Exciting Events Following McKinley's Winter as a Teacher — 
President Lincoln's Call for Volunteers — A Hearty Response 
from Ohio — The Gathering of the Poland Boys at the Sparrow 
House — The "Poland Guards" and their March to Youngs- 
town — McKinley could not at first get the Consent of his 
Parents — His Determination on Returning from Youngstown 
to so to the War — He Pleads his Cause in the McKinley 
Family and Conquers — Returns to Youngstown and Enlists — 
The Famous Twenty-third Ohio — Old Muskets Provided for 
the Boys — At first Refused bnt Accepted after a Speech from 
Major Hayes McKinley Carries his Musket through the 
War — Its Safe Keeping now at Canton — The Twenty-third 
Ordered to West Virginia — Their first Engagement a Victory 
Over the Rebels — What McKinley Says of it, . . GO 



CONTENTS. xv 

CHAPTEE V. 

A SERGEANT AT NINETEEN — FIERCE WARFARE FOR 
McKlNLEY AND HIS COMRADES. 

Severe Trials in Winter Quarters — McKinley Promoted to be 
Commissary-Sergeant — His Strict Attention to Duty — 
Executive Ability Recognized by his Commanders — Eulogized 
by General Hayes and General Hastings — The Breaking up 
of Camp — Advance upon the Enemy — A Brave Defense — 
Cut off from Supplies — Hunger in Camp — A March of One 
Hundred Miles in Three Days under a Burning Sun — The 
Ride to Washington — A Hot Fight at South Mountain — 
Three Desperate Bayonet Charges — McKinley's Own Ac- 
count of the Battle, 70 

CHAPTER VI. 

SECOND LIEUTENANT AT NINETEEN — PROMOTED FOR 
BRAVERY AT ANTIETAM. 

Antietam, the Bloodiest Day of the Civil War— The Hard Struggle 
around the Corn-field Surrounded by Woods — Varying For- 
tunes of the Day — No time for Rest or for Refreshment — 
Famished and Thirsty — Stragglers give Commissary-Ser- 
geant McKinley an Idea — Two Mule Teams Loaded with 
Hot Coffee and Hot Meats — McKinley's Brave Dash under 
Constant Fire — Cheers for McKinley and his Coffee — Fight- 
ing with Renewed Energy — The Day Won — McKinley 
Promoted to be Second Lieutenant for his Gallantry — Head- 
ing off Morgan's Remarkable Raid — The Terrible March to 
Join Crook, 79 

CHAPTER VII. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT AT TWENTY — BATTLE OF CLOYD 
MOUNTAIN. 

McKinley's Rapid Promotion — Made First Lieutenant — His 
Tact and Ability — Debates in Winter Quarters — The Ex- 
pedition to Join General Crook — Tiresome Marches over a 
Rough Country — Skirmishes with the Enemy — A Dash 



xvi CONTENTS. 

across the Meadows, through the Stream, and up the Hill — 
Shaking the Water out of their Boots — A Terrible Charge 
and a Murderous Fire — Scaling the Fortifications — Hand to 
Hand Struggle in the Fort — Rebels Driven Out — Burning the 
Bridges — Crossing the Alleghanies Four Times and the Bine 
Ridge Twice — Marching a Day and all Night without 
Sleeping, 88 



CHAPTEE VIII. 
Mckinley at kernstown — a ride in the face of 

DEATH. 

Deceived as to Early's Movements — Crook's Troops Left Alone 
in the Field — Worn Out by Hard Marches and Fighting — 
Aroused by the Booming of Cannon on a Bright Sunday Morn- 
ing — Preparing for the Battle — Ohio Men Led to the Front of 
the Line — Lieutenant McKinley one of the Staff Officers — 
Gallant Resistance of the Staff Brigade — Hayes Sends 
McKinley on a Dangerous Mission — He Gallops across the 
Field in Front of the Enemy — Shells Burst about him and 
Cannon Balls Plough the Ground in his Path — Saving the 
Guns from the Enemy — He comforts an Old Lady, . 95 



CHAPTER IX. 

A CAPTxVIN AT TWENTY-ONE — AID-DE-CAMP ON 
SHERIDAN'S STAFF. 

McKinley's Quick Promotion after his Heroic Conduct at Kerns- 
town — Made Captain of one of the Bravest Companies in the 
Twenty-third — Acting on Sheridan's Staff — Daily Skirmishes 
in the Shenandoah Valley — Fierce Engagement at Berry ville 
— McKinley's Horse Shot under him — Firing Stopped 
by the Surgeons and Burial Parties — Battle of Opequan — 
Must Cross a Slough or Die — Fierce Charge up a Steep 
Bank — Reinforcements from the Cavalry — Complete Dis- 
persion of the Rebels — McKinley's Quickness of Action and 
Good Judgment — Battle of Fisher's Hill, . . .107 



CONTENTS. X vii 

CHAPTER X. 

A MAJOR AT TWENTY-TWO — CLOSE OF McKINLEY'S 
FIGHTING DAYS. 

Battle of Cedar Creek —The Sound of Firing at Sunrise—Sheridan 
starts for Winchester — Meeting Stragglers Going to the Rear 

— His Push to the Front — Rides up to McKinley as he is 
Rallying his Troops — Asks McKinley for Crook — Together 
they Gallop off to Find Crook — Cheers from the Troops — 
McKinley Helps Sheridan Take off his Overcoat — The Charge 
Against the Enemy — Rebels Swept out of Camp — Disaster 
Turned to Victory — McKinley Accompanies Crook to West 
Virginia — Brevetted Major for Bravery at Opequan, Fisher's 
Hill, and Cedar Creek — Mustered out, . . . 116 

CHAPTER XL 

home again — Mckinley enters civil life, and 
becomes a leading lawyer. 

Advised by General Carroll to Continue his Military Career — 
A Strong Temptation — Finally Concludes to Study Law — 
Long Hours over his Law Books — Going to Youngstown to 
Recite — Anxious to Support Himself — His Sister's Sacrifice 

— Admitted to the Bar at Canton in 1867 — His first Law Case 

— Twenty-five Dollars, Too Much — Partnership with Judge 
Belden — His Reputation as a Lawyer Quickly Made — 
Thoroughness in Preparing Cases and his Success with Juries 

— Legal Contest with John McSweeney — The Bowlegged Man 
who lost his Case for Damages, 126 

CHAPTER XTI. 

HIS MARRIAGE — THE FIRST AND ONLY ROMANCE OF 
McKINLEY'S LIFE. 

Ida Saxton and her Family — Her Grandfather a Newspaper Man. 
and an Editor for Sixty Years — Her Father a Banker, Capi- 
talist, and Leading Man of Affairs — His Practical Ideas of 



xv iii CONTENTS. 

the Training of Women — Three Years his Assistant in the 
Hank — Her Beauty and Attractive Qualities — Trip Abroad — 
Return and Social Life — The Belle of the Town — Young 
Lawyer McKinley Distances his Rivals — Just the Man 
Father Saxton Wanted — Their Marriage — Early Home Life 

— Death of their Two Children — Her Health fails — Removal 
to her Old Home — William McKinley's Devotion — Reluctant 
to Enter Politics — Mrs. McKinley Urges him to do so — Be- 
lieved it was his Duty, and that it was his Future, . 136 

CHAPTEK XIII. 

A CONGRESSMAN AT THIRTY-FOUR — RECOGNITION 
QUICKLY WON. 

McKinley the Man who was wanted for Congress — " Old 
Stagers " do not Consider him a Possibility — He goes 
into the Campaign for Nomination and Wins in every County 
—Nominated on the First Ballot and Elected— Astonishment in 
Venerable Circles — Entered Congress at an Important Period 

— Settlement of Reconstruction Questions — McKinley put at 
the Bottom of a Poor Committee— Attracted Attention when he 
Spoke — What Blaine Said of him — His First Tariff Speech — 
Attack on the Wood Bill that Opened the Eyes of his Col- 
leagues—His Thorough Knowledge of the Subject Displayed 

— McKinley Still a Quiet, Studious Man — His Time Mostly 
Spent at his Rooms with Mrs. McKinley and his Books, 144 

CHAPTER XIV. 

PLANTING THE BANNER OF PROTECTION — IN THE 
FORTY-SIXTH AND FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESSES. 

McKinley's District Gerrymandered — Three of his Old Counties 
Taken Away, and Three Strange Counties Given to him — 
M.Kinley Accepts Renomination— Elected by 1.300 Majority— 
His Speech for Free and Fair Elections— Temporary Chairman 
of the Republican State Convention at Columbus — On the 
Ways and Means Committee — The Tariff Commission and its 
Report — The Bill of 1883 — McKinley's Tilt with Hewitt and 



CONTEXTS. x i x 

with Springer — Hewitt Compelled to Admit thai Wages De 
pended upon Protection — McKinley's Fidelity to liis Con- 
stituents not Measured by the Support they Gave him, 154 



CHAPTER XV. 

UNSEATED BY DEMOCRATIC HOUSE — HORIZONTAL 
TARIFF REFORM DEFEATED. 

Democratic Landslide of 18S2 — Grover Cleveland Comes to the 
Front — McKiuley in his Old District — McKinley's Opponent 
Elected by only Eight Votes — Judge Folger Thinks them a 
Good Many — Carlisle Elected Speaker — McKinley's Opponent 
Contests his Seat — The Morrison Bill for Horizontal Tariff 
Reduction — McKinley Shows up its Inconsistencies and Ab- 
surdities — Calls it the Invention of Indolence and the Mechan- 
ism of the Botch Workman — " They Toil not Neither do they 
Spin " —The " Carlisle Shape " — Prediction Regarding Tariff 
Reduction on Wool and Woolens — The Ohio Convention — 
McKinley Elected a Delegate — A Blaine Man — Returns to 
Washington — He is Unseated, 160 

CHAPTER XVI. 

A NATIONAL CHARACTER AT FORTY-ONE — THE REPUB- 
LICAN CONVENTION OF 1884. 

McKinley Made Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions at 
Chicago — Speaks Seldom but Attracts Attention — Comes to 
the Front at a Critical Hour and Prevents Adjournment of 
the Convention — Blaine Nominated — Campaign of 1884 — 
John Sherman Re-elected Senator in Ohio in 1885 — McKinley's 
Prediction Concerning Cleveland's Administration — Believes 
in Offensive Republicanism — No Stragglers — His Speech in 
Virginia for ex-Confederates — The " Bloody Shirt " — Con- 
gress Meets — Carlisle again Speaker — McKinley Defends 
Labor Arbitration — Suspects the Reason for Hoarding the 
Surplus — Attacks Cleveland's Message 177 



xx CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEK XVII. 

McKINLEY AND THE MILLS BILL — FREE TRADERS DE- 
FEATED IN THE FIFTIETH CONGRESS. 

The Protectionist at Boston — Description of the Man who has 
Outgrown his Country — Another Bond Resolution — McKin- 
ley Exposes the Administration's Purpose — Mills Bill Pre- 
sented — McKinley's Minority Report — The Majority Gives 
no Information to the Minority — Denounced by McKinley — 
Closing Day and a Brilliant Spectacle — Discourtesy of Mills 
to Randall — McKinley Yields Time to the Pennsylvanian — 
Cheers for the Ohioan — McKinley's Speech — Discomforting 
the Free Trader — Leopold Morse Caught in a Trap — McKin- 
ley Purchases a Ten-Dollar Suit at Morse's Store — " You, Sir, 
Have Closed the Debate," 188 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

A QUESTION OF HONOR — LOYALTY TO JOHN SHERMAN 

IN 1888. 

McKinley Heads the Ohio Delegation to Chicago — Receives 
Marked Attention — Cheered when he Enters the Hall — 
Unmistakable Tide towards him —The Thrilling Scene on Sat- 
urday—Thrusting Aside the Honor as a Delegate Pledged to 
Sherman — The Tide Turned — His Personal Appeal to 
Various Delegations — Pleading with the Connecticut and 
New Jersey Delegations — Blaine's Final Letter and Harri- 
son's Nomination — McKinley Becomes a Leader of the Fifty- 
first Congress — Chairman of the Ways and Means Com- 
mittee—Preparing the McKinley Bill 205 

CHAPTER XIX. 

the Mckinley bill- the great measure of the 
fifty-first congress. 

McKinley's Modesty in Speaking of his Own Achievements— His 
Associates Trust him Implicitly — His Belief the Basis of the 



CONTENTS. xxl 

Act — How it was Framed — No Interest Refused a Hearing 
—Working on Schedules until after Midnight His Associates 
Marvel at his Powers of Endurance— A Brilliant Scene on the 
Day he Presents the Measure — His Speech Listened to with 
the Greatesl Attention — Protection a Conviction, Not a 
Theory, with Him — The Passage of the Bill — It Becomes an 
Act — McKinley's Control of the Measure in the House 
His Able Management of Men — The Most Harmonious Tariff 
Act Ever Put on the Statutes, 216 

CHAPTEK XX. 

THE CONGRESSIONAL DEFEAT OF 1890— McKINLEY'S 
FAITH UNSHAKEN. 

The Last Democratic (Jerrymander to "Down" McKinley— The 
Democratic Gibraltar of the State Attached to his District- 
Defeat of McKinley the only Hope of Tariff Reform — 
McKinley Accepts the Nomination against Great Odds — 
Never Withdraws from his Party or its Principles — His 
Speech of Acceptance — A Campaign of National Interest — 
A Democratic Vote-Getter Opposed to him — David B. Hill 
and Others Stump the District — The Democratic Majority 
Whittled Down — Days of Waiting — Jubilant Democrats and 
Free Traders Hooting and Jeering in Front of McKinley's 
Office — McKinley Calm and Unmoved — Some Republicans 
Waver in their Faith — McKinley's Editorial, . . 230 

CHAPTER XXI. 

ELECTED GOVERNOR IN 1891 — McKINLEY COULD NOT 
BE DOWNED. 

McKinley Returns to Washington — His Defeat Really a Victory 
—Regarded as a Hero Rather than a Victim— Keeping up the 
Cry about " McKinley Prices " — His Reply to President 
Cleveland Concerning " Cheapness " — The Tariff Reformer 
Uncovered — Campaign Prices Convicted as Campaign Lies — 
Republican Sentiment Turns to William McKinley as a Can- 
didate for Governor— Demand for an Open Air Nomination by 



xx ii CONTENTS. 

Acclamation — A Notable Convention — Foraker's Speech — 
McKinley's Speech in Accepting — The Campaign Opened — 
Reviews the Parade from the Porch of the House in which He 
was Born — Discussing the Financial Issues — The Success 
of the McKinley Bill — Prosperity of the Country, . . 239 

CHAPTEK XXII. 

CONVENTION, CAMPAIGN, AND DEFEAT OF 1892 — FAITH 
STILL UNSHAKEN BY ADVERSITY. 

McKinley Inaugurated as Governor — A Delegate at Large — 
McKinley Permanent Chairman of the Convention — Another 
Embarrassing Situation — Efforts to Use McKinley to Defeat 
Harrison— Foraker Announces Forty-four Votes for McKinley 
and Two for Harrison — Another Roll Call with the Same 
Result — McKinley Leaves the Chair and Moves to Make 
Harrison's Nomination Unanimous — Receives One Hundred 
and Eighty-two Votes under Protest — Campaign of Mis- 
representation — McKinley Bill Maligned — Teople Vote for a 
Change — Republicans Waver — McKinley Exhorts them to 
be Firm — Only a Cross Current 250 

CHAPTEK XXIII. 

Mckinley as governor — enciting times in ohio- 
two active and efficient administrations. 

A Popular Executive Officer — Securing the Best Men for State 
Institutions — The State Board of Arbitration — Governor 
McKinley's Part in its Formation — Its Valuable Services — 
Exciting Times in the Second Administration— Upholding the 
Dignity and the Laws of the State without Exciting the 
Hostility of the Laboring Classes — Lynching not to be 
Tolerated in Ohio — The Dark Year of 1894 — Distress among 
the Miners Appeals to the Governor for Help — A Midnight 
Despatch and a Carload of Provisions — He Assumes the Re- 
sponsibility for Payment — Investigation into the Distress in 
Mining Districts — Intelligent Distribution of Supplies — 
Several Serious Labor Difficulties, 259 



CONTENTS. xxiil 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

PERSONAL REVERSES — DEVOTION AND SELF-SACRI- 
FICE of mrs. Mckinley — the man op the nation. 

A Thunder Clap from a Clear Sky — McKinley is Found 

to be an Endorser on Notes of an Old Friend to the Extent 
of over One Hundred Thousand Dollars— Turns over all his 
Property — Mrs. McKinley Contributes her Fortune — "My 
Husband's Debts are Mine "—Contributions Come in from the 
People — McKinley Returns them — The Final Settlement 
Every Creditor Paid in Full where McKinley was Liable — 
His Re-nomination by Acclamation for Governor— The Demo- 
cratic Opponent — A Warm Campaign — McKinley Re-elected 
by over Eighty Thousand Plurality — His Trip to Chicago 
Speech at the Reunion of the Army of Tennessee — Ohio Day 
— McKinley Rides his Famous Horse, " Midnight," in the 
Parade — Received by Cheers Everywhere, . . . 268 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Mckinley as a campaigner — his remarkable 
trip in the fall of 1894 — " protection " his 
battle-cry. 

Always in Demand as a Campaign Speaker— After the Panic of 
1S93 — Overwhelmed with Invitations from all Sections — 
Wonderful Enthusiasm of his Audiences — A Flying Trip to 
Chicago— Speaking to an Indiana Crowd of Two Thousand 
from a Car Platform with the Thermometer below Zero — 
Addresses the Students of Chicago University — Speaking at 
the Auditorium — Eulogies of Washington and Lincoln — 
The Fall Campaign — Speeches in Nineteen Different States 
—One Hundred and Fifty Thousand People Hear him in Two 
Days in Kansas — Speaking Seventeen Times in One Day 
Addressing the Working-men before Breakfast — His Journey 
of over Two Thousand Miles to New Orleans to Make one 
Speech — His Reception by the Southerners, . . . 27(5 



xx i v CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXYI. 

vox populi — the sweep of the tide of public 
opinion — " Mckinley our next president." 

Significance of a Popular Demand for One Man — The Turning of 
the Tide — Democratic Heavy Guns Turned on McKinley — 
McKinleyism Becomes a Badge of Honor — The Democrats 
Try to Make it a Term of Reproach — Why the People Flocked 
to See and Hear the Ohio Man — His Opportunity had Come — 
Republicans Everywhere Volunteer their Support — The Ohio 
Convention — His Candidacy Officially Announced — The 
Canvass Placed in Mark A. Hanna's Hands — Hanna's Busi- 
ness Sagacity — States Left Free to Express Themselves in 
their Own Way — The McKinley Managers — Every Effort to 
Check the Sentiment Strengthens it — Favorite Sons — A 
Majority of the Delegates 291 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

MCKINLEY'S NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT— SCENES AT 
THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OF 189G. 

Culmination of a Popular Movement — Story of the Great Republi- 
can Convention at St. Louis — Roll Call for Nominations — 
Foraker Nominates McKinley — The Mention of his Name 
Followed by a Half Hour of Cheering — A Pandemonium of 
Cheers and Shouts — An Animated Scene — Unavailing Efforts 
of the Chair to Restore Order — Fifteen Thousand People Sing 
Patriotic Songs — The Nomination Seconded by Senator Thurs- 
ton— His Brilliant Speech — " The Shibboleth for this Cam- 
paign is ' Protection ' " — A Good Story — " Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
We Bring the Jubilee !" — Result of the Ballot — McKinley 
Receives 661% Votes — Cheers and Huzzas Rend the Air — 
Making the Nomination Unanimous — Chauncey M. Depew's 
Felicitous Speech 298 



CONTENTS. XJV 

CHAPTEE XXVIII. 
now Mckinley received the news of his nomina- 

TION — WILD DEMONSTRATIONS OF JOY AT CANTON 
-REJOICING THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. 

Preparations ;it Canton Cor Receiving the News — Connecting 
McKinley's Residence with the Convention Hall by Telephone 

— Awaiting the News — An Expectant Little Circle — The 
Clicking Telegraph at Work — McKinley Coolly Reads the 
Despatches — His Comments upon Them — The Vote — Jotting 
Down the Fateful Figures — McKinley's Nomination Assured 

— The Boom of a Distant Cannon — A Notable Celebration — 
Receiving Congratulations — McKinley's Reply to his Neigh- 
bor's Address — He is Deeply Moved — Called upon by a New 
York Delegation — McKinley's Welcome to Them — "Keep 
Close to the People " — The Great Principle which has Given 
us " Plenty and Prosperity." 312 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

McKINLEY'S HOME LIFE -HIS DEVOTION TO HIS WIFE 
AND AGED MOTHER. 

Present Home of Major and Mrs. McKinley at Canton — The 
House to which he Took his Wife as a Bride — Domestic 
Afflictions — Where their Children Died — A Home around 
which Sacred Associations Cluster — McKinley's Work-room 

— How it is Furnished — The Touch of a Woman's Hand 
Everywhere — Enormous Daily Mail — His Kindliness and 
Manliness — How he Receives his Visitors — The Charm of his 
Manner and Speech — Untiring Devotion to his Wife — Their 
Life in Washington — How Mrs. McKinley Assists her Hus- 
band—Her Tastes and Accomplishments — Her Unostenta- 
tious Charities — Hands that are never Idle — McKinley's 
Mother— His Filial Love — Walking to Church with his 
Venerable Mother on his Arm — Watching her Son's Career 
with Pride 321 



xxv i * CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE XXX. 

THE MAN AND THE STATESMAN — McKINLEY IN PRI- 
VATE AND PUBLIC LIFE — AN UNSTAINED RECORD. 

His Personal Appearance — Should be Seen to be Fully Known — 
A Man who Works but does not Worry — His Dress — The 
Bronze Badge of the Grand Army of the Republic — A Man 
of Unusual Power — Henry living's Inquiry, "Who is that 
Man?"— His Astonishing Feats of Memory — His Faculty 
of Remembering Faces — An Incident at a Hartford Dinner 
Party — "I Know you " — His Cordial Manners and Unaf- 
fected Simplicity — His Capacity for Sustained Mental Ef- 
fort — How he Prepares his Principal Speeches — His Keen 
Insight into Human Nature — A Champion of the Dignity and 
Elevation of Labor — His Profound Sympathy — An Incident 
in his Army Life — He Becomes a Freemason — Interesting 
Circumstance Attending his Initiation into the Order— His 
Public Life an Open Book — A Spotless Public Career — A 
Man of Attractive Personality and Blameless Life — Keeping 
in Close Touch with the People 328 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

GARRET A. HOBART — A NATIVE NEAV JERSEY MAN - 
MAKING HIS OWN WAY — BECOMES A LEADING 
LAWYER. 

Birth at Long Branch — English and Dutch Ancestry — His 
School Days — Graduates from Rutgers College at Twenty 
Years of Age — Earning his Way — A School Teacher — Goes 
to Paterson — A New Suit of Clothes and $1.50 his Entire 
Capital — Studies Law in the Office of Socrates Tuttle — 
Friendship of Mr. Tuttle for Hobart's Father — An Agreement 
thai his Child, if a Boy. should Study Law with Mr. Tuttle - 
Made a Member of the Tuttle Family — Jennie Tuttle — 
Young I lobar) is Fascinated — They are Married — Hobart's 
First Law Case - Steady Progress — Becomes a Leading 
Lawyer. 335 



CONTENTS. xxvii 

CHAPTEE XXXII. 

HOBART'S POLITICAL CAREER — FOREMOST LEADER 

OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN MOW JERSEY. 
Hobart's Legal Ability and Political Acumen Demonstrated — 

Sent to the Legislature in 1872 — Becomes Prominent — Re- 
elected in 1874 — Becomes Speaker — Important Stale Ques- 
tions—New Jersey and the Railroads — State Senator in 
L876 — "The Brilliant Young Senator from Passaic" Made 
Chairman of the Republican State Committee — Attention 
Attracted to Hobart's Political Skill — Incidents of a Warm 
Fight —Delegate to National Convention of 1SS4 — Placed on 
the National Committee — Made one of its Executive Mem- 
bers—A Trusted and Honorable Political Worker — His 
Nomination for Vice-Presidency 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

HOBART AS A BUSINESS MAN AND PUBLIC CITIZEN - 
MRS. HOBART AND THE HOME LIFE AT CARROLL 
HALL. 

An Able Man of Affairs — A Bankrupt Railroad Placed on a 
Successful Basis — His Co-operation and Services Sought by 
Numerous Enterprises — Uniformly Successful in his Manage- 
ment—A Generous Man and a Peacemaker — Other Charac- 
teristics—His Home Life — Mrs. Hobart — Handsome, Ac- 
complished; and Inheriting her Father's Keen Intellectuality 
— Death of their Daughter Fannie in Italy — Garret A. 
Hobart, Jr. — Carroll Hall — A Model of Refined Elegance — 
The Hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Hobart — Their Charities. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

REPUBLICAN PROGRESS — EVENTS LEADING TO THE 
FORMATION OF A GREAT PARTY. 

Growth of the Country under Republican Administrations — 
Slavery at the Time of the Revolution — Toleration of the Sys- 
tem—British Proclamations — Slavery Preserved by a Yan- 
kee Invention — Whitney's Cotton Gin — Potentiality of In- 
dividual Action — The Missouri Compromise — The War with 
Mexico and its Results — Admission of California — What the 
South Threatened — Features of the Compromise of 1850 — 
The Battle for Freedom in Kansas — Song of the Emigrants — 
"Westward the Course 1 of Empire," 383 



xxvi ii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

FORMATION AND GROWTH OF THE REPUBLICAN 
PARTY. 

Dissolution of the Whig Party — The " Know Nothings " and 
their Principles — Origin of the Republican Party — The 
National Conventions — Election of 1850 — Abraham Lincoln 

— Dramatic Incident at Bloomington — A Thrilling Event in 
Political Organization — Harmonizing Differences — Brooks 
and Sumner — The Dred Scott Decision — The Charleston 
Convention — How the Democratic Party was Sundered — 
The Election of Lincoln — The War and its Results — Recent 
History of the Party, 394 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND ITS 

HISTORY. 

Preliminaries to the Struggle for Independence — The Con- 
vention of 1705 — Articles of Confederation — The "Declara- 
tion of Rights •' and other Papers — The Continental Congress 

— Work of the Committee of Five —The Beginning of the War 

— Minutemen — Washington's Statesmanship — Formation of 
the Constitution — Opposition to its Adoption — The Bulwark 
of the Republic — Text of the Constitution — Amendments 
and their History 407 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES — SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND ADMIN- 
ISTRATION. 

His Remarkable Modesty — Opposed to Slavery although a Slave- 
Holder — The Country Bordering on Anarchy — Quarrels be- 
tween the Federalists and Anti-Federalists — Not a Partisan 
Himself — His Virtues Derived from His Mother — Mount 
Vernon an Inheritance from His Brother — His Sense of 
Justice — Love of Truth and Personal Honor — Farewell Ad- 
dress to His Army — His Admirably Balanced Character — 
Washington's Cabinet 429 



CONTENTS. XXIX 

CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 

JOHN ADAMS. SECOND PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED 

STATES. 

Not by any Moans so popular as His Predecessor — Elected by 
Three Votes Only — The Country Beginning to lie an Independ- 
ent Nation — Commencing Life as a School Teacher — His 
Wife ;( Remarkable Woman — Adams a Vigorous speaker and 
Pointed Writer of Choleric Temper — Bitter Hostility between 
Parties —Employed on Delicate Missions — Extremely Active 
in Political Life — One of the First to see a Final Rupture 
with the Mother Country Inevitable 438 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THOMAS JEFFERSON. THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 

His Pride in the Authorship of the Declaration of Independence — 
The First Genuine Democrat — His Radical Revision of the 
Laws of Virginia — The Final Treaty of Peace — His Views 
opposed to Hamilton's — Genest's Extraordinary Conduct as 
French "Minister — Love of France and French Institutions — 
Jefferson and Aaron Burr Receive the Same Number of Votes 
for President — Simplification of Customs and Manners — 
His Dislike of Titles — His Personal Appearance, . . 444 

CHAPTEE XL. 

JAMES MADISON, JAMES MONROE, AND JOHN QUINCY 
ADAMS. FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH PRESIDENTS 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Conciliatory Character of Madison's Administration — His Opin- 
ions on the Federal Government — His Charming Wife — 
Decline and Death of Federalism — Monroe's Election Almost 
Unanimous — His Gallant Service in the Field — Wounded at 
Trenton — The Era of Good Feeling — Monroe's Views of 
Coercion — Bitter Disputes with Great Britain Leading to the 
War of 1812 — The Fifth President's Successful Efforts to 
Restore the Public Credit — He Dies Involved in Debt — 
Adams' Early Advantages and Experiences, . . . 454 



XXX CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE XLI. 

ANDREW JACKSON, MARTIN VAN BUREN, AND WM. 
HENRY HARRISON, SEVENTH, EIGHTH, AND NINTH 
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Jackson the First Unmixed Democrat — His Election Regarded in 
Virginia and Massachusetts with Surprise and Disgust — His 
Uncouth aud Untaught Youth — His Chivalrous Delicacy 
toward Women — His Morbid Sensibility about His Wife's 
Reputation — His Combats with Indians — Various Recounters 
and Duels — The Hermitage — The Seminole War — Battle of 
Now Orleans — His Determination to Hang the Nulliflers — 
Honest, Single-minded, and Patriotic — Van Buren as Demo- 
crat and Free-soiler — His Contented Old Age — Harrison as 
an Indian Fighter — The Log Cabin Campaign, . . 468 

CHAPTER XLIL 

JOHN TYLER AND JAMES K. POLK, TENTH AND 
ELEVENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Tyler the First Vice-President to Succeed the Chief Executive by 
Death — A Representative of the Same Social Class as Jef- 
ferson, Madison, and Monroe — Education and Wealth Really 
Disadvantageous to Him — A Career of Continuous Vetoes — 
Making Himself Extremely Unpopular — Forcing His Cabinet 
to Resign — The Annexation of Texas a Favorite Scheme — 
A Member of the Peace Convention in 1801 — A Former Chief 
Magistrate in Open Rebellion against the Government — Polk 
and the Mexican War — A Commonplace President. . 482 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

ZACIIARY TAYLOR. MILLARD FILLMORE, AND FRANK- 
LIN PIERCE. TWELFTH, THIRTEENTH, AND FOUR- 
TEENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Taylor Purely a Military Man — nis Reputation Made in the Mexi- 
can War — His Death in Four Months — His Disqualifications 
for Political Life — Fillmore's Early Success — His Fore- 
shadowing of the National Banking System — Approval of the 
Fugitive Slave Law— -The Irreparable Injury it did II im — 
A Candidate of the American Party — Pierce :i Northern Man 
with Extreme Southern Principles — His Constant Sympathy 



CONTENTS. xxx i 

with Sin very — His Gallantry in the Field — Retiremenl to 
Private Life Equivalent to Extinction -iK'.t 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

JAMES BUCHANAN, FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 

An Unpopular Administration —James Buchanan's Early History 
— Sent to Congress at Twenty-nine — The Weakest of Presi- 
dents—His Total Inadequacy for the Great Emergency in 
Which He was Placed — Shrewd for His Own Interest — An 
Admirer and Follower of Jackson Without His AVill or 
Courage — The Anti-Slavery Excitement in Kansas — The 
Cause of the Civil War Inherent in the Constitution — The 
Nation on the Eve of a Conflict — Admission by Buchanan of 
the Right of the Southern States to Secede — A Pitiful Spec- 
tacle of Imbecility, 498 

CHAPTER XLV. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 

Contrast between Lincoln and Buchanan — His Lonely Boyhood 
and Severe Youth —The Cause of His Detestation of Slavery — 
The Campaign with Douglas in Illinois Introduces Him to 
the Nation — The Irresistible Magnetism of the Rail-Splitter — 
His Nomination at Chicago — Deplorable Condition of the 
Country at the Time of His Inauguration — His Resolve to 
Freserve the Union at all Hazards — Distressing Effect of 
His Assassination — His Personal Appearance and Power of 
Persuasion, 507 

CHAPTER XLYI. 

ANDREW JOHNSON AND ULYSSES S. GRANT. SEVEN- 
TEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 

Johnson's Early Life and Hard Struggles — A Tailor Who was 
more than the Ninth Part of a Man — His Views of Slavery 



XXXii CONTENTS. 

and Secession — His Personal Courage and its Good Effects 
Politically — His Disagreement with Congress about Recon- 
struction—The Impeachment Trial — Grant in the .Mexican 
War — His Incompetency in Business — Finding his Place in 
the Civil War — His Extraordinary Success in the Field — 
Called to Command the Army of the Totomac — His Political 
.Mistakes and Alleged Greed of Power, .... 514 

CHAPTER XLVIL 

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, JAMES A. GARFIELD, AND 
CHESTER A. ARTHUR, NINETEENTH, TWENTIETH, 
AND TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED 
STATES. 

Hayes as Lawyer, Politician, and Soldier — Nominated Because 
an Ohioan — The Electoral Commission — Great Outcry 
against Him, but still a Creditable President —Garfield's Hard 
Fight with Fortune at the Outset — Ambition to be a Canal- 
Boat Captain — His Career in the Army — Leader of the 
House of Representatives — His Admirable Equipment for 
Political Life — His Nomination at Chicago Wholly Unex- 
pected — The National Sorrow at His Assassination — Arthur 
Born in a Log Cabin, and Ruling in the White House, . 520 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 

GROYER CLEVELAND, TWENTY-SECOND PRESIDENT 
OF THE UNITED STATES, BENJAMIN HARRISON. 
TWENTY-THIRD, AND GROYER CLEVELAND AGAIN. 

Cleveland's Luck — Inconspicuous as a Lawyer — No National 
Reputation till 18S2 — A Phenomenal Majority — His Nomi- 
nation for the Presidency —New York the Pivot— His Famous 
Tariff Message, the Mills Bill and Defeat — Harrison the 
Gallant General, Great Senator, and Successful President — 
The McKinley Bill and Reciprocity — The Sherman Act — 
A Campaign of Misrepresentation — Cleveland Again — Great 
Democratic Prospects and their Collapse, . . . 539 



THE MAN. 

"He has endeared himself to all by his record as a 
gallant soldier, battling for the flag. He has honored 
himself, his State, and the country by his conspicuous 
services in high legislative and executive places. No man 
more than he is familiar with the questions that now 
engage public thought. No man is more able than he 
lucidly to set them before the people. I do not need to 
invoke your attention to what he shall say. He will com- 
mand it. — Ex-President Benjamin Harrison introducing William 
McKinley at Indianapolis, September 25, 1S94. 



( xxxiii ) 



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Republican Presidential Candidate of 1896. 



CHAPTEE I. 

the Mckinley family — bred in contests for 
freedom and independence. 

William MeKinley's Scotch Ancestry — Descended from Mac- 
duff, who Killed Macbeth — The McKinlay Clan and Mc- 
Kinlay the Trooper — " Not too Much " — The McKinlay of 
whom Burns Sang — Emigration of James and William Mc- 
Kinley to this Country about 1742 — Northern McKinleys and 
Southern McKinleys — William MeKinley's Great Grand- 
father in the Revolution — Workers in Iron Industry — Me- 
Kinley's Mother — Hard Workers all and Thorough Patriots. 

THE ancestors, on the paternal side, of "William Mc- 
Kinley came originally from Scotland, and were, 
according to the most reliable traditions, partici- 
pants in those stirring events in which the Scottish clans of 
the Highlands cultivated, for the sake of their clannish 
independence or their religious freedom, the arts of war 
more than the arts of peace. If the McKinlay clan did 
not become so prominent in the perpetual conflict that took 
place in the Scotland of the seventeenth and eighteenth 
3 (35) 



36 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

centuries as the Mclntoshes, the McDonalds, the McLeans, 
and the Camerons, it at least must have been actively en- 
gaged in those strifes. The McKinlays were Covenanters, 
and so subject to all the persecutions that the Scottish Cov- 
enanters suffered, and the changes they endured, and, like 
other Scots, their hearts swelled at the thought of the death 
of Wallace and .the triumphs of Bruce. 

In the Dean of Linsmore's book, a collection belong- 
ing to the early part of the sixteenth century, there are 
two poems ascribed to Gillccallum Mac an Ollaimh, and 
the translator states that the name signifies Malcom, the 
son of the chief bard or the physician. It is stated also in 
a footnote that the name is still found in the form Mcln- 
ally, but McKinlay, which was the name of the clan later 
known to history, is more commonly, and, considering 
recent investigations, with abundant reasons, regarded as 
being derived from the name Finlay. 

The most reliable genealogical history makes the earli- 
est ancestor of whom there is any record Constantine Mac- 
duff, Earl of Fife, who killed Macbeth, thus by heroic con- 
duct creating the basis for Shakespeare's immortal tragedy. 
The second son of the third earl was called Macintosh, from 
whom the clan Mcintosh may have descended. In the seven- 
teenth generation appeared Finlay, who fell at the battle of 
Pinkie in 1547, and whose eldest sonWilliamwascalledMae- 
K inlay. His family settled at The Annie, Gaelic for " The 
Ford of the Stag," near Callander, Perthshire, Scotland, 
about 1600. There about 1645 was born John McKinlay 
whose second son was named James. James it was, who 
became, as family tradition states, a great and mighty man 
of valor, known as " McKinlay the Trooper." To him 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 37 

the ancestry of William McKinley of today has been 

traced. The crest of the clan was an armed arm, holding a 
braneh of olive; the motto was v- Not too much." The tar- 
tan was a sombre plaid of green and blue with a larger plaid 
of narrow red stripes. 

Outside of the mention of the name of the McKinlays 
in some of the old manuscripts there is nothing until the 
time of Robert Burns, who mentions the name in " The 
Ordination " and " Tarn Samson's Elegy." The McKin- 
lay he sang about is said to be buried not far from the 
tomb of Burns, alongside that of Tarn Samson. He must 
have been a Scotch contemporary of the McKinleys who 
came to this country, for it is claimed his ordination actually 
took place April 6, 178G. By the death of a moderate 
clergyman in Kilmarnock there was much excitement lest 
a " high-flier " instead of a moderate should be appointed to 
the place by the patron. Rev. James McKinley was of the 
zealous party, and Burns, to console the moderates, composed 
the poem containing an anticipatory view of the ceremony. 
This Reverend McKinlay had become a great favorite by 
the time Burns wrote " Tani Samson's Elegy," beginning: 

Has auld Kilmarnock seen the deil ? 
Or great M'Kinlay thrawn his heel ? 
Or Robertson again grown weel 

To preach and read ? 
" Na, waur than a' ! " cries ilka chiel — 

" Tarn Samson's dead ! " 

The change in the spelling of McKinlay to McKinley 
is explained by the reply Major McKinley himself made 
when the descendants of " the clan " held their meet inn at 



38 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

the World's Fair, Chicago, to a lady of the same name, but 
spelled in the <>M way. 

" Your ancestors of the McKinlay clan," lie said, " came 
to this country directly from Scotland, while mine came 
from the north of Ireland, but we are all of the same stock." 

It appears that " McKinlay the Trooper" went to Ire- 
land and took part in the Battle of the Boyne, fought July 
1, 1000, acting as a guide to the victorious army of William 
III. He may have returned to his clan in Scotland, but 
probably he settled there in Ireland and became the ancestor 
of the Scotch-Irish McKinleys. The Scottish McKinlays 
preserved their clan in the Highlands till after the battle at 
Culloden Moor — " Culloden ! which reeks with the blood 
of the brave " — when Charles the Pretender was over- 
thrown and the last hope of the restoration of the Stnart 
dynasty was extinguished. The hereditary jurisdictions 
of the chiefs were transferred to the crown, the garb of the 
Highlanders was forbidden by law, the dread of the clans- 
men died away, and many of them fled to America, where 
their descendants still write their names McKinlay. 

It was about this time that a McKinley, probably the 
son of " McKinlay the Trooper," for he was born in 1708 
in the north of Ireland, came to this country with two boys, 
James, twelve years old, and William, who was still younger. 
These boys founded two branches of the McKinley family, 
one in the southern, and the other in the northern States. 
'Idie southern branch descended from William McKinley, 
and settled in Maryland. One member of this branch be- 
came an associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the 
United States- John McKinley from Alabama, who 
served on the bench from \s;]~ t<> L852, and died in office. 



LIFE OP WILLIAM McKINLEY. :;;i 

The branch from which the William McKinley of to-day is 
descended was founded by -lames McKinley, the other broth- 
er, who settled in York county, Pennsylvania, probably 

very soon after his arrival in this country, for there is 
a record of a son having been born to him .May 16, IT.')."), 
and this son, David McKinley, was the McKinley of the 
Revolution, and the great-grandfather of the Ohio states- 
man. 

The official records of the Bureau of Pensions show that 
David McKinley enlisted in .June, 1 7 7 ♦ > , as a private, from 
Chanceford, Pennsylvania. Short enlistments were the 
rule in the Revolution, and it is found that David McKinley 
enlisted eight times, serving usually for two months only, 
but reinlisting at the expiration of each service, and alto- 
gether serving for nearly two years in the war. He was in 
active service, engaged in the defense of Fort Paulishook, 
and the skirmishes of Amboy and Chestnut Hill. At some 
time in his service he was wounded. 

After the war he returned to "Westmoreland comity, 
Pennsylvania, where he lived fifteen years. On December 
19, 1780, about two years after his honorable discharge from 
the army, he married Sarah Gray, who was born May 10, 
1700. It is a notable fact that however severe the wound 
he received in service, he did not apply for a pension 
until August 15, 1832, fifty-four years after he was mustered 
out, and in the seventy-seventh year of his age. 

TTis first wife, Sarah, died October G, 1811, and one year 
later he was married to Eleanor McLean, and at about the 
same time he settled in Col umbiana county, Ohio. He had 
previously lived a short, time in Mercer county, Pennsylva- 
nia. It is probable that he moved to Ohio with one of his 



40 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

ten children, then grown to manhood, and seeking a 
fortune in the new and unsettled West. His second 
wife died in L835 without issue, and David McKinley 
bimself lived five years longer, the date of his death being 
recorded as August 8, 1840. His grandson, William Mc- 
Kinley, Si-., and the father of the William McKinley of to- 
day, was then a man of thirty-three. David McKinley was 
buried in an old cemetery at Bucyrus, Crawford county, 
Ohio, in a lot purchased by William McKinley, Sr. Prob- 
ably he was living with his grandson near New Lisbon at the 
time of his death, for James McKinley, son of David, and 
grandfather of William McKinley, Jr., moved to New Lis- 
bon in 1809, and here it was, so the family traditions state, 
that later the father of the present William McKinley 
" worked in Gideon Hughes's furnace." James McKinley 
and his wife both died on the same day — the former at 
sixty-two years of age, and the latter at fifty-eight, and were 
buried in the same grave, in a cemetery near South Bend, 
Lid. 

William McKinley's grandfather, as well as his father, 
was a furnace worker, or a furnace blower, as they were 
called. It is said that lie ran a charcoal furnace in Lisbon, 
Ohio, away back in the " thirties," and was a staunch Whig 
and ardent advocate of a protective tariff. Western Penn- 
sylvania and eastern Ohio had become famous as iron-pro- 
ducing regions, even under the crude methods that were 
then applied to the industry. It is certain that William 
McKinley's father began work in an iron furnace at an 
early age, and continued in that business throughout his 
active life. 

Turning now to the ancestry of William McKinley on 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 41 

the maternal side we find, in addition to the strong char- 
acter and rugged views of independence and of religious 
freedom which came from Scottish ancestry, that a contri- 
bution of both Scottish and German blood was received. 
Mary Rose, who married James, William McKinley's 
grandfather, came from England and was of Puritan ex- 
traction. Her ancestors were among those who fled east- 
ward from England to Holland to secure freedom from reli- 
gious persecution, while the paternal ancestors of McKinley 
were struggling for similar freedom in Scotland. From Hol- 
land they came to America, Andrew Rose being an emi- 
grant with William Penn, and receiving land encompass- 
ing sixty miles, where Doylestown, Pennsylvania, now 
stands. He was a prominent man in the early colonial 
history of Pennsylvania. His son, Andrew Rose, Jr., was 
the father of Mary Rose, who became the wife of James 
McKinley, and the mother of William McKinley, Sr. 

It is not strange that when the old Covenanter stock of 
Scotland was mingled with that of those stern lovers of 
religious freedom, the Puritans, a strong, self-reliant, and 
intelligent family was planted in eastern Ohio. This An- 
drew Rose, Jr., the great-grandfather of William McKin- 
ley on his mother's side, while not a warrior for a long time 
in the Revolution like David McKinley, was an extremely 
useful man in those days when skill in the art of produc- 
ing instruments of warfare was but rare. He shouldered 
his musket and went to battle, but bullets and cannon-balls 
being needed as much as men, and as he was an iron mould- 
er by trade, he was sent home after the battle of Mon- 
mouth to make ammunition for the fighters in the field. 
After the war he continued in his trade as an iron worker. 



42 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

By his second wife he had eight children, and one of 
them, Polly, was the grandmother of William McKinley, 
Jr. Her father moved from Bucks county to Center 
county, Pennsylvania, and it was somewhere at this time 
that the Ruses and MeKinleys became acquainted, and 
a family association began which has since continued. 
Marriage relationships and business partnerships were not 
only entered into by the MeKinleys and the Roses directly 
after the Revolution, but later on children of Andrew 
Rose, Jr., assisted William McKinley, Sr., at his iron foun- 
dry at New Lisbon, Ohio. Another Rose was interested 
with William McKinley, Sr., at Slippery Rock, in Mercer 
county, in the iron business. James McKinley and his 
wife, Mary Rose McKinley, moved to Xew Lisbon in 1800, 
when William McKinley, Sr., was but a year and a half 
old. James Rose was married to Martha McKinley, 
daughter of David and Sarah McKinley, in 1806, and the 
peculiarly intimate relations between the two families, 
thus early entered into, have been maintained in various 
ways ever since. 

William McKinley, Sr., who was the second of thir- 
teen children, was married in the twenty-second year of 
his age to Mary Allison. The Allisons originally came 
from England and settled in Virginia. Some of 

them afterwards went to Greene county, Pennsylvania, 
and it was there that Abner Allison, the grandfather of 
McKinley, was born. Tn 1708 he married Ann Campbell, 
who came of a Scotch-German family. Early in this cen- 
tury this couple emigrated westward from Pennsylvania, 
making the journey on horseback, Mrs. Allison holding 
in front of her the youngest child. They settled some 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 43 

eight miles from New Lisbon, Ohio, on a farm, and there 
in 1809 was bora Mary Allison, who became the mother 
of McKinley. She was married to William McKinley, St., 
in L827, and soon alter the voting couple went to Fairfield, 

Ohio. 

By this mixture of the Covenanter and the Puritan, 
and an added element from the blood of the thoughtful and 
studious German ancestors, William McKinley inherited 
that love of freedom, that sturdy honesty of purpose, that 
natural probity, that indomitable will power, which pecu- 
liarly fitted his grandparents for entering upon a severe 
pioneer life in the early part of this century, and which 
peculiarly fitted him for a notable career. That very 
pioneer life itself in the uncultivated lands of western 
Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio must have further de- 
veloped these very same qualities. Their experiences, if 
not. as severe as those of the Puritans who landed at Ply- 
mouth Rock, and who had a tough struggle with the cli- 
mate and the Indians, were at least severe enough to de- 
velop all their strong qualities. It was an experience by 
which men and women were either made great or killed 
at an early age. The women, no less than the men, were 
called upon to endure many hardships in providing for 
the families of those days, which were generally large, and 
surrounded, by force of circumstances, with scanty pro- 
visions for their comfort and sustenance. 

Engaged in the early iron industries of this country, 
as William ^McKinley's grandfather and father, and also 
his great grandfather, Andrew Pose, Jr., were, William 
McKinley inherited strong convictions as to the con- 
ditions regarding the development of the business, and we 



44 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

can well imagine that in his mind were early laid the 
foundations of those doctrines as to protection to home in- 
dustries, and their development in this country in thorough 
independence of other countries — a doctrine of which he 
was destined to become the leading exponent among the 
people. 

The readiness, also, with which several of the ancestors 
of William McTvinley left their farms, furnaces, or their 
forges, and went to the field of battle when there was a 
call for men, in defense of their country, will explain, so 
far as ancestry can, the promptness with which the Ohio 
statesman, when only a lad of eighteen, persuaded his pa- 
rents to allow him to shoulder a musket and march to 
the front in defense of the Union in 1861. The McTun- 
leys have always been hard workers and thorough patri- 
ots. 



CHAPTER TT. 

birth and boyhood — early influences in the 
Mckinley home at niles. 

The Birthplace <>f McKinley and its Associations — Influences of 

His Father and Mother — No Chances for Idleness in the 
McKinley Family — William and his Share in the family 
Woodpile — A More Bookish than Boyish Boy — The House- 
hold Library — Standard Works of History — Shakespeare a 
Favorite — Dickens for Fiction — Seizing every Opportunity 
for Study — After-dinner Readings in the Family Circle— Every 
Night, Some Member of the Family Read Aloud for an Hour — 
Early to Bed and Early to Rise — Father McKinley a Whig. 
Free Soiler, and Protectionist- He Talked Politics with his 
Children — Magazines and^The Weekly Tribune Regular 
Visitors — Religious Influences. 

IN" the early forties, William McKinley, Sr., was manag- 
ing an iron furnace near Niles, Trumbull comity. 
Ohio, a settlement of very few inhabitants then, where 
the Mosquito Creek runs into the Mahoning river, and it 
was there, in a long, two-story dwelling, that, on January 
29, 1843, William McKinley, Jr., was born. The build- 
ing served the double purpose of a country store and dwell- 
ings. It is still standing, and a faithful picture of it as 
it is to-day will show the old country store, and just 
over the vine-clad entrance to the tenements above, is the 
part of the house where William McKinley first saw the 

light of day. It was in the little porch, over which the 

(45) 



46 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

vinos run in graceful profusion, that William McKinley, 
nearly fifty years later, opened his gubernatorial campaign 
in Ohio, following a defeat in that remarkable campaign, 
becoming, as it did, one of national political importance- — ■ 
his campaign for congressional election in 1890, when his 
district had been so outrageously gerrymandered against 
him by the Democrats. 

That portion of Ohio had been tinctured by New Eng- 
land emigration and it is a notable fact that many men of 
prominence, especially in the polities of to-day, were born 
in that region. Thirty miles away, in the adjoining coun- 
ty of Cuyahoga, James A. Garfield was born. Senator Al- 
lison of Iowa once lived only thirty miles from Canton. 
Senator Manderson of Nebraska lived and was married half 
that distance from that place. Thomas C. Piatt once kept 
a store at Massillon, eight miles away, and Senator Quay's 
home is only sixty miles away. Hayes was born in Dela- 
ware county, and the two Shermans were born and reared 
in Lancaster, only one hundred miles away. 

William was the seventh of nine children, and in view 
of the demands upon the mother's time in those days, and in 
the circumstances fortune offered, it may well be imagined 
that when William came, his elder brothers and sisters 
were called upon to do their share in amusing and caring 
for hi in. 

If is said that George Washington inherited from his 
mother those qualities of mind and character which made 
him great, as many other great men are thought to have 
done The mother always plays an important part in the 
making of the character of her children, and so it may 
with equal truth be said that William McKinley inherited 



LIFE OP WILLIAM McKINLEY. 47 

from his mother many of those qualities which have Led 

to his success in life; so also from his father, who, however 
humble his circumstances, never neglected to provide for 
the instruction of his children. The McKinleys were re 
garded by their neighbors as above others in intelligence, 
and were much liked and respected. Though their 
time was so much occupied with the commonplaces of life, 
no opportunity for the improvement of the mind or for 
the strengthening of the morals was neglected in their little 
household. It was in such an atmosphere of hard work 
and never neglected opportunities that the McKinley 
brothers and sisters were reared. 

His mother, who is still living at Canton, Ohio, at the age 
of eighty-seven, always speaks of William as a good hoy. 
But while fond mothers are apt to forget the peccadillos 
of their children, and consider them as good at all times, it 
is doubtless true that William seldom caused either of 
his parents any trouble. This is the verdict of his brothers 
and sisters. The honest, old-fashioned switch had its place 
in that little home full of lively and vigorous children, but 
the force of parental authority was more often exercised 
upon the others than upon William. None of the McKin- 
ley boys ever sulked, however — a little examination of 
the family will show that that is characteristic. They 
seldom lost their tempers, and if they did, soon found that 
it simply was not in them to stay mad. It is characteristic 
of William McKinley, as often mentioned in Washing- 
ton, that no matter how bitterly he was attacked by his 
political enemies, he always treated them without any ex- 
hibition of temper, and made his worst enemies on the floor 
good friends off it. 



48 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Tlit' boys were always provided with something to do 
for the comfort and support of the family, though never 
deprived of their play spells. Wood was the fuel of those 
days, and the thriftiness of a family was often judged by 
the extent and neatness of its woodpile. William and Ab- 
ner McKinley remember of their being delegated to work 
in that McKinley woodpile, each to do a certain share, and 
it is said that William always did his own as quickly and 
as skillfully as he could, while some of the others would 
get their share done for them when eager for play. 

As a boy, William was well built, but as time went on, 
and in spite of the exercise that he took, he lost some of his 
robustness. He was a serious child, always studious, and 
preferred books to exercise, indulging in out-of-door sports 
more from a desire to be accommodating than because of 
any real taste in that direction. When he played, he al- 
ways " played fair," and his companions liked him ; but he 
preferred to pore over what books he could lay his hands 
on, and he was able to lay his hands on a good many. 

Of these brothers and sisters, only four are living. 
David Allison McKinley, the eldest of the family, went 
to California in '49, and died there two or three years 
ago. The next child, and the eldest sister, Annie McKin- 
ley, was at the head of the Canton school for thirty years, 
and died July 29, 1S90. James McKinley, the third 
child, went to California in '40, and is now dead. Mary 
McKinley, the next, died several years ago. Sarah Eliza- 
beth McKinley became Mrs. Duncan, and is living at 
Cleveland. Helen Minerva McKinley, an unmarried sis- 
ter, is living with Mother McKinley at Canton. Wil- 
liam, ;is we have said, was the seventh. The eighth, Ab- 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M.KI X LL Y. 49 

bey, died when a babe, and the ninth was Aimer Mc Kin- 
ley, who is engaged in business in New 5Tork city. 

At variance with the custom prevailing among other 
families in that section, which was largely inhabited by 
people from New England, the family dinner occurred 
in the evening instead of at noon. Father McKinley was 
a busy man, and disliked to give up a valuable hour in the 
middle of the day to a heavy meal, but preferred to have it 
after the day's work was over and at liberty to enjoy him- 
self in the company of wife and children. 

It was a standing rule in the family that for one hour 
after dinner someone should read aloud to the others, every 
evening. There was nothing compulsory about it so far as 
attendance was concerned, but that after-dinner hour was 
religiously kept, nevertheless, and seldom did a member of 
the family care to miss it. There, in a family circle, the 
members gathered and listened while some one of the fam- 
ily read from the current papers, or from some of the 
standard works in the little library. 

Unlike many of the homes in Ohio in those days, there 
was a comfortable little collection of books in the McKin- 
ley household. Father McKinley was a great reader him- 
self. Sundays he would read nearly all day, except for the 
time given to attendance upon religious worship. In the 
little library, from which they drew much of their read- 
ing material, were works like Hume's History of England, 
Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and Rol- 
lins' Ancient History. The early works of Charles Dick- 
ens constituted a part of the fiction. A volume of Shakes- 
peare, which is still in existence, and highly prized at the 
old borne in Canton, was a source of regular entertainment 



50 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

and inspiration. Father McKinley was a great reader of 
Shakespeare, and liked to dwell upon his majestic sen- 
tences. The well-worn volume now testifies strongly to the 
industry with which it was perused, and also to the care 
with which it was defended from the ravages of time and 
use. 

For years one of the standard monthly magazines went 
into the McKinley family, and its arrival was an interest- 
it il: event. It was at once taken up and read from begin- 
ning to end — not skimmed as magazines and other period- 
icals too often are to-day by busy people, surfeited with 
too much reading matter. When the magazine was taken 
from the post-office, it immediately became the material 
for thorough reading either at the post-prandial family 
meetings, or by the individual members at other times. 

But perhaps nothing in the current literature of the day 
finding its way to the McKinley household was looked for 
with more eagerness and interest than the Xew York Week- 
ly Tribune, which had, under Horace Greeley, become a 
power in the land. Father McKinley would often read its 
columns to the family aloud, and it was said that William, 
Jr., paid close attention to the glowing political utterances 
of Greeley, and often sought further political information 
from his father — information which he seldom failed to 
obtain, Cor, ;is we have said, Father McKinley was an ex- 
ceedingly intelligent man, much interested in politics, being 
a Whig, afterwards a Free Soiler, and always a protection- 
ist, as was his father before him. He used to talk politics 
with his boys very often. 

Through these readings and political talks in the home 
circle, William McKinley, Jr., doubtless first began to take 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 5J 

an interest in politics. The country was beginning to 
awaken to the inevitable conflict between the North and the 
South. We may imagine the family comments upon the 
warm presidential contest of 1852, and the doings of the 
Thirty-third Congress, which followed, and during which 
Senator Douglas reported the Kansas and Nebraska bill, nor 
is it difficult to imagine the comments made by the elder Mc- 
Kinley, a lover of freedom and a Free Soiler, upon the ar- 
rest of Anthony Burns as a slave in Boston in 1854, and his 
conveyance by the revenue cutter Morris, by order of Presi- 
dent Pierce, to Norfolk, Va., where he was delivered to his 
alleged master. McKinley was only twelve when Nathan- 
iel P. Banks was elected speaker of the Thirty-fourth Con- 
gress; only thirteen when President Pierce, in a special mes- 
sage recognized the pro-slavery legislature of Kansas, and 
called the attempt to establish a free state government an 
act of rebellion, and only thirteen when Charles Sumner 
was beaten down in the Senate by Preston S. Brooks. Five 
years later he shouldered a musket and marched away to 
the war, not to return until the last armed rebel had surren- 
dered. 

Swiftly after the evening reading, followed bedtime in 
the McKinley home. They were early risers. One of the 
rules of the house, as inflexible as the laws of the Medes and 
Persians — for Mrs. McKinley was convinced that regular- 
ity was one of the essentials of a sound constitution — was 
that the children should retire at seven o'clock. This must 
have been something of a sacrifice for a studious boy like 
AVilliam, who delighted in that evening's literary entertain- 
ment, and would, no doubt, have gladly pursued his studies 

a little longer, but he made up by early rising and by mak- 
4 



52 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

ing the best of every opportunity which occurred during the 
day. 

The McKinley children were reared as Methodists. 
They were fond of going to Sunday-school, as children usual- 
ly were in those sparsely settled communities, and probably 
such attendance would have been compulsory whether they 
liked it or not; for, while it is a striking fact that Father Mc- 
Kinley frowned upon any compulsory rules in the house 
as to listening to the evening reading from history, Shakes- 
peare, or the Tribune, or too much compulsion of any sort, 
religious attendance was regarded as something which 
could not be well omitted. William McKinley was thor- 
oughly interested in the teachings of the Sunday-school, 
and he soon grew to acquire a strong religious conviction. 
When fifteen years of age, he joined the Methodist church 
at Mies. 



CHAPTER III. 

EDUCATION — REMOVAL TO POLAND AND A CHANGE 
OF ENVIRONMENT. 

McKinley's Brief Attendance at a Common School — Removal of 
the McKinley Family to Poland — William Enters the Semi- 
nary at Nine Years of Age — Some of the Teachers and their 
Influence upon McKinley — His Sister Annie — McKinley 
Takes to Greek and Latin — Avails Himself of an Opportunity 
to Study Hebrew with a Methodist Minister — A Literary and 
Oratorical Development — The Literary Society at the Semi- 
nary—Ringing Debates on Burning Questions of the Hour — 
Scrupulous Care in the Maintenance of the Society's Room — 
No Trespassing on the New Carpet, except in Slippers — 
McKinley a burner of Midnight Oil — Passing the Examina- 
tion to Enter the Junior Class at Allegheny College — 111 
Health — A School Teacher — Clerk in a Country Store — 
Ready for War. 

THE glimpse we have just taken of the family life of 
the McKinleys will reveal the early educational in- 
fluences which surrounded the boy who was later 
to become a man of the nation. Instruction was a part of 
the order of things in the McKinley family, and nothing 
could have been more agreeable to William McKinley's 
mind and disposition. When he was five years old, he 
went to the common school at Xiles, but it may well be 
doubted if the instruction he received in that little common 

school in those early davs in Ohio was as thorough or as ex- 

(53) 



54 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

tensive as that which he received at home from his father 
unci his mother, combined with that which he industriously 
picked up himself. 

William McKinley, Sr., soon realized that with a large 
family of intelligent hoys and twirls growing up about him, 
better educational facilities were required, and so we find 
that in 1852, or when William was nine years old, the fam- 
ily moved to Poland, a quaint, old New England sort of 
place, which could boast of very few inhabitants, and yet 
of two academic schools — one of Presbyterian persuasion, 
and the other under Methodist control. The Presbyterian 
school was destroyed by fire, shortly before the McTvinleys 
moved to Poland, and the educational facilities of the two 
schools were practically combined, the institution being 
known as the Poland Union Seminary. 

William was far enough advanced in his books to enter 
;it mice upon a study of the curriculum of this institution. 
His habits of studionsnoss and devoti< in to his books increased 
as he grew older. One of the teachers at the Poland Sem- 
inary was Miss E. M. Blakelee, who was an excellent wo- 
man of good attainments, and of much strength of char- 
acter, and who exercised a very important influence over 
the young pupil, lie publicly and handsomely acknowl- 
edged this when he was requested to deliver the annual ad- 
dress to the graduating class in the year L883. .Miss Blake- 
lee, after teaching tor nearly thirty years, much of the time 
in Poland, had married Mr. E. K. Morse of that place, and 
in speaking of her, he ascribed to her much of the good in- 
fluence upon himself, and upon the youth who went out 
from the Poland Union Seminary. She was a woman of 
earnesl and resohite character, and had a quiet, womanly 



life of wili.iam Mckinley. 55 

way, which impressed itself upon McKinlcv as well as upon 
others, and drew nut the hot df what there was in her pupils. 

Another woman win* exercised a strong and uplifting 
influence upon McKinlcv was his elder sister, Annie, a 
(dose friend also of Miss Blakeslee. Indeed, the two wo- 
men had a friendly rivalry as to the number of years they 
should devote to teaching, ami curiously enough, they each 
of them taughl tor thirty years. 

While McKinley was fond of mathematics, he took a 
special delight in the languages. He had even succeeded 
in picking up by himself considerable Greek and Latin, 
and some Hebrew. One of his possessions was a Hebrew 
Testament, and he acquired considerable knowledge of that 
difficult tongue by taking an occasional opportunity to re- 
ceive instruction from a Methodist minister at Poland. This 
minister, Rev. W. F. Day, I). I)., was a man of much in- 
fluence, and at a later period became quite eminent in his 
profession. His son, AVilson M. Day, is now President of 
the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce. Young William 
perceived the opportunities for further instruction which 
could he obtained from snch a man, and the clergyman was 
quite as quick to recognize the agreeable and promising char- 
acter of the material which was offered to him for working. 

Besides the instruction which McKinley thus obtained 
outside of his ordinary seminary life, his association with 
the minister strengthened his religious convictions, and 
made him an earnest, Christian young man. He was a 
conspicuous member of one of the Bible classes in the church 
at Poland, and it is related that he took to the study of the 
Bible, as he did to nearly everything else, with an especial 
thoroughness, making every point a subject of inquiry. 



56 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

lie was, they say, " eternally asking questions," about mat- 
ters in the Bible class. 

But the literary and elocutionary part of his training- 
was not neglected. While McKinley was necessarily some- 
thing of a recluse, being a close student and an excessive 
user of midnight oil, he nevertheless mingled considerably 
with the young people of Poland, and was always liked be- 
cause of his good disposition and engaging ways. One of 
the features of the seminary was called the Everett Literary 
Society, undoubtedly from the great orator, Edward Ever- 
ett. McKinley was instrumental in the formation of this 
very practical and useful adjunct to the institution, and 
was its first president. Little by little, this society got 
together a limited library, which was placed in a room on 
the third floor of the seminary building. The society held 
its meetings every Friday evening, and they were great oc- 
casions. Every question almost within the range of human 
knowledge was debated, and William McKinley either pre- 
sided or was one of the chief debaters. There, undoubtedly, 
he laid the foundations for that persuasive and convincing 
style that has made him one of the most successful advo- 
cates and orators, either in Congress or upon the platform. 

As indicative of the pride which the boys and girls of 
Poland took in this institution and of the scrupulous care 
with which they maintained it, it became a standing rule 
in the society — at some little sacrifice upon their pocket 
books, a new carpet, purchased at the nearest town boast- 
ing a carpel store, had been laid on the floor — that the boys 
should always come to the meetings in slippers, and that 
the iiirls, no matter how fine the weather, should wear rub- 
bers, to be removed before entering. There was an ante- 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 57 

room in which the girls removed their rubbers, and the boys 
also conld remove their boots and put on their slippers be- 
fore trespassing - upon the dainty carpet. 

Standing in his slippers before that little company of 
boys and girls on the third floor of the seminary, William 
McKinley debated many political subjects of the day, and it 
is well known from the faithful reading of history, as well 
as of the current weekly papers, which had been so thor- 
oughly perused at his father's house, that McKinley was 
the best equipped of all the young men there to discuss the 
burning questions of the day. 

All the testimony that can be gathered from those who 
have recollections of McKinley's school-boy days in Poland, 
tends to show that he was a real boy, enjoying his sports with 
other boys, always popular with them, and yet much more 
devoted to his books. " It was seldom that his head was 
not in a book," says one who was closely associated with 
McKinley in those days. The story is told of a strife be- 
tween him and another student who roomed across the street 
from the McKinleys as to which should first show a light to 
begin the early morning study, and as to which should show 
the longest endurance under the light from " midnight oil." 
" Exact knowledge," said McKinley thirty years later, at 
the dedication of a public school in a little town in Ohio, " is 
the requirement of the hour. You will be crippled without 
it. You must help yourselves. Luck will not last. It 
may help you once, but you cannot count on it. Labor is 
the only key to opportunity." 

It was under such circumstances and with such a purpose 
that McKinley pursued his academic education at Poland 
until he was seventeen years of age. His education had 



58 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

been far more extensive than anything he could have gained 
in the little Poland academy. He had really acquired an 
education in the university of the world, far away from the 
centers of activity as he was. From the lips of his well-in- 
formed father, and his intelligent mother, and in that little 
after-dinner reading circle, which must have exercised so 
potent an influence over the formation of his convictions, 
he learned to grapple with life's sterner problems. He had 
secured besides this, as any boy of his studious turn of mind 
must, a firm grasp upon the facts of life by his own study and 
reading, and from his association with the Methodist min- 
ister of Poland, by which his ideas were broadened, and his 
mental grasp of things strengthened. 

"When he went to Allegheny College at Meadville, Pa., 
he had no difficulty in passing the examination for entering 
the junior class of that institution. But his devotion to his 
studies and lack of exercise had expanded his mind at the 
expense of his body, and shortly after he began his college 
education his health failed so completely that he was com- 
pelled to return to his home at Poland. 

It was not in him, however, to rest. He sought a change 
by engaging as a school teacher in what was then called the 
Ken- district, about two and a half miles from Poland. The 
old inhabitants of Poland recall the sight of McKinley strid- 
ing on " across lots " to and from the old schoolhonse which 
still stands. 

Concerning his experiences in this country school, there 
is very little to be said. Knowing McKinley's disposition 
;md habits of study and interest in the questions of the day, 
there is no doubt that the stirring events in the nation :it 
thai time began to exercise a strong influence upon his mind. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. ;-,9 

Just before the beginning of thai winter, while lie was 
teaching, the nineteenth presidential election was held, and 
Abraham Lincoln was elected President. Buchanan, in the 
slmrt time in which he remained in office, was showing his 
weakness as President, and his favoritism for the South. 
Congress was at work upon schemes for adjusting the dif- 
ficulty. South Carolina seceded in December. Gradually 
secession was taking place throughout the South, and by the 
8th of February Jefferson Davis was chosen President of 
the Confederate States. 

The news of all these events permeated into the heart 
of every little hamlet in Ohio, and aroused the greatest ex- 
citement. The fighting blood that ran in McKinley's veins 
was unquestionably affected. His patriotism was bred in 
the bone. The thoughts of the studious boy, with impaired 
health, turned to war. His school education (dosed there, 
and after a short time, during which lie acted as a clerk in 
the store and post-office at Poland, he entered upon his career 
as a soldier. 

He proved his gallantry upon the field, and was quickly 
promoted. When, after long' service, he was mustered out 
and returned to his home, he was by disposition the same 
studious boy, but the hard experience of the war had been 
the making of him physically. It rebuilt his constitu- 
tion upon a stronger foundation, and endowed him with 
those powers of endurance which were long after, in the 
stress of public life, the marvel of men at Washington, who 
eould not understand how AFcKinley could work for so 
many hours at tariff schedules with so little exercise, and 
still maintain, to all appearances, the most perfeet health. 



CHAPTER IV. 

A VOLUNTEER IN THE RANKS AT EIGHTEEN — ENLIST- 
MENT AT YOUNGSTOWN. 

Exciting Events Following McKinley's Winter as a Teacher — 
President Lincoln's Call for Volunteers — A Hearty Response 
from ( )hio — The Gathering of the Poland Boys at the Sparrow 
House — The " Poland Guards " and their March to Youngs 
town — McKinley could not at first get the Consent of his 
Parents — His Determination on Returning from Youngstown 
to go to the War — He Pleads his Cause in the McKinley 
Family and Conquers — Returns to Youngstown and Enlists — 
The Famous Twenty-third Ohio — Old Muskets Provided for 
the Boys — At first Refused but Accepted after a Speech from 
Major Hayes — McKinley Carries his Musket through the 
War— Its Safe Keeping now at Canton — The Twenty-third 
Ordered to West Virginia —Their first Engagement a Victory 
Over the Rebels — What McKinley Says of it — Hardships of 
Winter Quarters. 

EXCITING national events continued to fill the pop- 
ular mind, and fire the hearts of the people of Ohio 
as of other states. Fire was opened on Fort Sum- 
ter on April 12th. Two days later it surrendered. The 
next day. President Lincoln, by proclamation, called for 
75,000 troops and convened Congress for the Fourth of 
July. Virginia seceded on April 17th: Every day some 
new event of startling importance was reported in the break- 
ing u]) of the Union. On the 3d of May, President Lincoln 

(60) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 01 

called for three-years volunteers arid a large addition to 
the regular army and the navy. 

Several regiments had been organized in Ohio for three 
months' service. The United States called for thirteen reg- 
iments from the State in April, and the same day a law was 
passed authorizing the expense of ten regiments beyond 
the required number, and providing $.100, 000 to support 
them. A few days later two regiments were organized at 
Columbus and sent forward, without uniforms or arms, to 
Washington. Under the three months' call, the State had 
furnished 22,000 infantry; 180 cavalry, and 200 artillery- 
men. 

We can well imagine that the evening readings at the 
McKinley fireside in those exciting days were well attended. 
As we have said, William had finished his term of teaching 
at the little school near Poland, and was at that time earn- 
ing a little money as clerk in a store, and preparing to re- 
enter the college at Meadville. Those were exciting times, 
and sad ones, too, for the mothers, and 'sisters, and sweet- 
hearts of the boys of Poland. Shortly after the President's 
call for three-years volunteers the young men of Poland 
gathered at the old Sparrow house in that place, all of them 
raw and undisciplined youths who had never shouldered 
a musket, but who were enthusiastic and determined in 
the defense of the country. Two of these, at least, were 
William McKinley and his cousin, William M. Osborne, 
now of Boston. Osborne, who was about "William's age, was 
living with the McTvinlevs at that time and attending the 
Poland Union Seminary. Patriotic speeches were made, 
and opportunities for enlistment offered. 

On a sunny day in the latter part of May, when the roll- 



62 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

ing fields of Ohio were clad with fresh verdure, and the crops 
of the industrious farmers were promising a rich harvest, a 
company which was known as the Poland Guards was 
formed at the old Sparrow house, a captain and a first lieu- 
tenant were elected, and it marched down the old street ac- 
companied by nearly all the inhabitants of the little place, 
cheering the martial spirit of the boys, and still sad over the 
serious work before them. The company marched on to 
Youngstown that day accompanied by half the men, wo- 
men, and children of Poland, including McKinley and Os- 
borne, — but they had not enlisted. 

William was only a slender boy of eighteen, who had 
always been, as we have said, studious and too negligent per- 
haps of exercise, and Osborne was about the same age, and 
scarcely as strong. Father McKinley, Free Soiler and 
Unionist as he was, and Mother McKinley, who clung to her 
children as a mother will, still feared to allow the young 
men to march away towards an unknown fate, even in the 
defense of their country. But McKinley and Osborne could 
not resist the spell. They marched all the way to Youngs- 
town with the recruits, saw the gathering of troops from 
other places, and watched the preparations for war. Very 
reluctantly they turned homeward that night. 

After McKinley had walked on in silence for some dis- 
tance, he said to Osborne: 

" Bill, we can't stay out of this war; we must go in." 

Osborne suggested that they could not get the consent of 
his parents. 

''' We must get their consent, " replied McKinley. 

That night, as the story in the family goes, William 
pleaded their cause at the McKinley family circle. He 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M. KLXLEY. (33 

doubtless pleaded it with eloquence and persuasiveness, for 
the parents consented, and the next day McKinley and Os- 
borne hurried to Youngstown and joined the boys. From 
Youngstown they went to Columbus, and there with others 
from various parts of the State formed the Twenty-third 
Ohio Volunteers. McKinley enlisted as a private in Com- 
pany E. 

Speaking one day to a friend of his in the governor's of- 
fice at Columbus concerning his enlistment, Governor Mc- 
Kinley leaned back in his chair with a smile of pleasant 
retrospection on his face, and said, " I always look back 
with pleasure upon those fourteen months in which J served 
in the ranks. They taught me a great deal. I was but a 
school-boy when I went into the army, and that first year 
was a formative period in mv life, during which 1 learned 
much of men and facts. I have always been glad that I 
entered the service as a private, and served those months in 
that capacity." 

The musket which was provided for Private McKinley 
was one of the old-fashioned sort, which had to be provided 
in the early days of the war when volunteers came forward 
faster than suitable arms could be obtained. Some of these 
old muskets had been transformed from flint-locks. They 
carried a round ball, and it took a strong man to fire them 
and a keen eye or a lucky chance to hit anything. I hit 
McKinley was proud of that musket. Tt was better than 
some that were provided for the Twenty-third Ohio, and be 
made good use of it when lie had a chance, which was not 
very slow in coming. He carried it not only during the 
whole period that he served as a private in the ranks, but 
when he was promoted and given a sword, he still kept it. 



64 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

He took it about with him, through the whole war, until he 
was mustered out, and took it back to his home in Ohio. 
To-day it hangs in a place of honor in the house of one of his 
old friends in Canton, Mr. W. K. Miller, who prizes it as 
one of the most valuable of his possessions. At the solici- 
tation of the writer he kindly consented to have it photo- 
graphed, provided he could carry it to the photographer him- 
self, watch the process, and carry it back to be hung m its 
place of honor. 

A few years ago, when Governor McKinley pronounced 
a eulogy on the life and services of Rutherford B. Hayes, 
he spoke of the manner in which the muskets were received 
by the boys of the regiment as illustrating a feature of 
Hayes's character. The first headquarters of the regiment 
were at Camp Chase, and it was there that McKinley had 
his first meeting with Hayes, and it happened when they 
came to receive their muskets with all the pride of new re- 
cruits. 

" The State," said McKinley, " could furnish only the 
most inferior guns, and these we positively and proudly re- 
fused to accept. We would accept nothing but the best. 
The officers spent most of the day in trying to persuade us 
to receive the guns for a few weeks, if only for the pur- 
pose of drill. None of us knew how to use any kind of a 
musket at that time, but we thought we knew our rights 
and were all conscious of our importance. They assured 
us that more modern guns would soon be supplied. Major 
I laves did the talking to our company, and I shall never 
forget the impression of his speech. He said that many of 
the most decisive battles in history had been won with the 
rudest weapons. At Lexington, Bunker Hill, and many 




musket carried by william mckinley during the war. 
Mckinley in his knight templar's uniform. 

WILLIAM McKINLEY, Sr. Mrs. WILLIAM McKINLEY, Sr. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. (J7 

other engagements of the Revolution, our forefathers bad 
triumphed over the well-equipped English armies, with the 
very poorest firearms, and that oven pikes and scythes 
had done good work in that glorious conflict. Should 
we be less patriotic than our brave ancestors ? Should wo 
hesitate at the very start of another struggle for liberty 
and union, for the best and freest government on the face 
of the earth, because we were not pleased with the pattern 
of our muskets or with the calibre of our rifles ?" 

" I cannot," said McKinley, " at this late day recall his 
exact words, but I shall never forget his warmth of patri- 
otic feeling and the sound sense with which he appealed to 
us. That was our first and last mutiny. We accepted the 
old-fashioned guns, took what was offered cheerfully, and 
Hayes held us captive from that hour." 

The Twenty-third Ohio proved to be one of the famous 
regiments of the State and of the war. It was composed of a 
superior class of men, both in the ranks and among the offi- 
cers. AVhile many of them were young men, entirely unused 
to the hardships of war, their powers of endurance had never- 
theless been developed by their open-air occupations, and 
they possessed besides an earnest devotion to the cause of 
the 1 Union, and a strong will power which enabled them to 
endure with patience, and without grumbling, some of the 
hardest trials of the war. 

Among the officers there were three at least who won 
distinction not only from active service in the war, but in 
civil life afterwards. The first colonel was W. S. Tiose- 
crans, who became general a little later. The lieutenant- 
colonel was Stanley Matthews, afterwards a senator from 
Ohio and a justice of the Supreme Court of the United 



08 hlFK OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Statw. The first major was Rutherford B. Hayes, who 
was promoted to the place of general for gallant service, and 
in civil life was three times elected governor of Ohio, and 
in 1876 became President of the United States. From the 
organization of the regiment to the time it was mustered 
out, there were in it 2,095 men; the number killed in bat- 
tle was 169; and the number who died from disease through 
service was 107, the total loss being 270. Of the 2,095, 
there arc, it is said, about 500 still living in the country. 

During the time when the regiment was organizing for 
an advance to the front, the Twenty-seventh Congress as- 
sembled in extra session, and President Lincoln sent his first 
message to Congress. The battle of Bull Run took place 
on the 21st of July. General McClellan was ordered to 
Washington on the 22d, and on the 23d General Rosecrans 
assumed command of the Department of the Ohio. A few 
days later the new Ohio regiment was ordered to Clarks- 
burg, West Virginia. " From this point," says Whitelaw 
Reid in " Ohio in the War," " it operated against the num- 
erous guerillas infesting the country in that quarter, per- 
forming many days and nights of excessively hard duty, 
marching and counter-marching over the rugged spurs of 
the Rich mountain range, and drenched by the almost con- 
tinual rains of that season. Thus we find the boys who had 
left their peaceful occupations and happy homes but a few 
months previous, suddenly plunged into an actual service 
that put to a severe test both their righting qualities and 
powers of endurance." 

McKinley participated in all the early engagements in 
Wesl Virginia with the Twenty-third and the Department 
of Ohio, under the command of General Rosecrans. The 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 69 

first engagement was at Carnifex Ferry, on September LO, 

1861. This was McKinley's first real taste of fighting with 
the rebels, and it was a victory, one of the rare ones that 
was recorded in those early days of the war. The effect of 
it was of far more consequence to the regiment than the 
battle itself to the war. 

" It gave the boys," McKinley says, " confidence in 
themselves and faith in their commander. We learned 
that we could fight and whip the rebels on their own 
ground." 

On October 24, 1861, Major Rutherford B. Hayes was 
promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, taking the 
place of Stanley Matthews, who had just been appointed 
colonel of the Forty-first Ohio, and James M. Comly, who 
was distinguished in later years in civil life as editor of the 
Ohio State Journal, became the major. 

After the engagement at Carnifex Ferry, the regiment 
went into winter quarters at Fayetteville, where it encoun- 
tered some of the hardest experiences of the first year of 
its service. Heavy rains had been falling through that 
section, the regiment had been necessarily exposed to the 
cold and damp, and sickness became common. Some of 
the strongest of the brave young fellows who marched out 
of Poland, and of other places in Ohio, in that bright spring 
day, a few months before, succumbed, while others were ren- 
dered unfit for service. During all that winter, with the 
exception of some little skirmishes of no consequence, the 
troops did little except in the way of recruiting and of much 
needed drilling and discipline. 



CHAPTER V. 

a sergeant at nineteen — fierce warfare for 
Mckinley and his comrades. 

Severe Trials in Winter Quarters — McKinley Promoted to be 
Commissary-Sergeant — His Strict Attention to Duty — 
Executive Ability Recognized by his Commanders — Eulogized 
by General Hayes and General Hastings — The Breaking up 
of Camp — Advance upon the Enemy — A Brave Defense — 
Cut off from Supplies — Hunger in Camp — A March of One 
Hundred Miles in Three Days under a Burning Sun — The 
Ride to Washington — A Hot Fight at South Mountain — 
Three Desperate Bayonet Charges — McKinley's Own Ac- 
count of the Battle which Enforced the Retirement of Lee — 
The Eve of Antietam. 

THE Twenty-third Ohio, in which McKinley enlisted, 
like many other regiments from other states, was 
composed of young, brave, and earnest men, ready 
to run into the face of the enemy, as their record had already 
shown, and as it was gloriously demonstrated afterward. But 
they were unused to war, they were raw, unacquainted with 
the tactics, and many of them awkward with their arms. 
Hard were the experiences of these young men, however. 
"Reports of suffering in the army appeared in the papers 
regularly at that time. Tt is probable that they were ex- 
aggerated, for Hayes, who was in immediate command of 
McKinlov's regiment, wrote home that he was satisfied 

(70) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 71 

our army was better \\'<\, better clad, ami better sheltered 
than any other army in the world. " If is," he said, " me 
poor families at home and not the soldiers who can justly 
claim sympathy." That there was much sickness, there 
can be no doubt, but it was due to causes which the condition 
of things made necessary. 

If there was very little transpiring in camp, there was 
much of moment going- on outside. Great disappointment 
prevailed throughout the North because of the inaction of 
the Army of the Potomac. "It is awful," said Senator 
Wade to General McDowell, December 26, 1861, " and we 
are endeavoring to see if there is any way in God's world to 
get rid of the capital besieged, while Europe is looking upon 
us as almost a conquered people." The belief in McClellan 
seemed to be slipping away. It should be remembered that 
it had been a disastrous season for the Union troops. Bull 
Run had left a depressing effect upon the Union soldiers. 
Of all the victories ascribed to them, there had been nothing 
much more conspicuous than at Carnifax Ferry, in which 
MeTCinley's regiment participated. The government sus- 
pended specie payment in January, and there was scarcely 
anything except, the refreshing victories of Grant in Ten- 
nessee to cheer McKinley and his comrades in their damp 
and lonely quarters. 

But it was in that winter's camp that McKinley earned 
his first promotion. He attracted the attention of his su- 
periors by his management of the little things entrusted 
to his care. Their keen eyes detected in him executive 
ability, which would be of great service to the regiment; 
and on the 15th of April, 1862, he was promoted to com- 
missary-sergeant. 



72 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

" Young as McKinley was," said ex-President Hayes in 
1891, " we soon found that in business, in executive abil- 
ity, he was a man of rare capacity, of unusual and surpassing 
capacity, especially for a boy of his age. When battles 
were fought, or a service was to be performed in warlike 
things, he always took his place. The night was never too 
dark, the weather was never too cold, there was no sleet or 
storm, or hail or snow, that was in the way of his prompt 
and efficient performance of every duty. When I became 
commander of the regiment, he soon came to be upon my 
stall', and he remained upon my staff for one or two years, 
so that I did literally and in fact know him like a book, and 
love him like a brother." 

When McKinley is asked for information as to his mil- 
itary career, he is inclined to be reticent, preferring that 
others shall speak; and one of those to whom he refers in- 
quirers, is General Russell Hastings, who was with McKin- 
ley during much of his military career. General Hastings 
was a lieutenant in the Twenty-third Ohio when Major Mc- 
Kinley was a private. At the close of the war, Hastings 
was in command of the regiment, and was brevetted briga- 
dier-general, while McKinley was serving on the staff of 
General Sheridan. 

Speaking not long ago of Major McKinley in the war, 
General Hastings said: "Major McKinley was always 
keen, quick, and alert, and so was naturally fitted for staff 
service, a fact his superiors soon realized and took advantage 
of, so that during the greater part of the war he served on 
the staff of the general officers, one of the most dangerous 
positions in the army, one which required the utmost readi- 
ness of resource and bravery of the highest order." 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. . 7;> 

Two days after the promotion of McKinley, his reg- 
iment, under command of Colonel I laves, cheerfully quitted 
winter quarters and led the advance upon the enemy. 
The second engagement in which McKinley participated 

was at Clarke's Hollow on the 1st of May, and from there 
his regiment advanced upon. Princeton, West Virginia. 
The enemy evacuated the place before the Union soldiers, 
hut attacked the single Ohio regiment with four regiments, 
on the 8th, forcing it to retire to East River, though in good 
order, and fighting at every step. The boys were in (dose 
quarters, and as the enemy succeeded in cutting off sup- 
plies, they were put on short rations, and some of them al- 
most starved. Princeton was then abandoned, and the reg- 
iment returned to Flat Top Mountain, where it remained 
in camp until the 13th of July. Thence by a march of one 
hundred miles in three days, it arrived at ('amp Piatt on 
the Great Kanawha. Such a march of over thirty miles a 
day, under the summer sun of a southern sky, was a severe 
test of the powers of endurance of those raw, but now par- 
tially disciplined, troops. 

But while McKinley and his war comrades were engaged 
in that tedious march, they were not dispirited — their 
natural boyish spirits came to the .front. W. D. Howells, 
in writing of the boys in Hayes' regiment, says: " They 
were humorous in their way, as all unspoiled Americans are, 
and in their march through a friendly section of Maryland, 
where the admiring women, children, and negroes called 
out from every house to know what troops they were, their 
drollery bubbled out in such answers as, ' The Twenty-third 
Utah,' ' The Twenty-third Bushwhackers,' ' Drafted men,' 
' Home Guards,' ' Peace Men,' ' The Lost Tribes/ etc." 



74 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Upon arriving at Parkersville, the regiment took the 
cars for Washington and joined McClellan's forces, driving 
the enemy out of Frederick, Md., and reaching Middletown 
on the 13th of September. It was on this trip to Wash- 
ington that McKinley, as most of the Ohio boys perhaps, 
had his first glimpse of the Capital City. Little, we pre- 
sume, did the young sergeant expect to make himself one of 
tlio most conspicuous men at the capital in later years. 

No doubt these Ohio boys had their dreams of the fu- 
ture, but those were dark days. The enemy's breastworks 
were not far from the capital itself. The future of the 
country was an unknown quantity, or at least appeared so; 
and the future of every man in that Ohio regiment was a 
very doubtful quantity, for they well knew that they were 
directly in front of the enemy with the best part of his 
forces. Only a few hours did they enjoy the sights of the 
capital before the order came for the advance upon "Freder- 
ick, and immediately came two of the important engage- 
ments of the war — South Mountain and Antietam. 

The battle of South Mountain took place on the day 
after the Twenty-third arrived in Middletown. Refer 
ring to the engagement in an oration he delivered before 
the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, in 1893, 
Governor McKinley said: "It was a lovely September 
day, an ideal Sunday morning. McClellan's army, with 
Burnside's corps in front, was passing up the mountain by 
I he National Road. General Cox's Ohio division led 
Burnside's corps, and the Twenty-third Ohio was in 
the hud of that division. Hayes was ordered to take one 
nf i ho mountain paths, and move to the right of the rebels. 
At nine o'clock the rebel picket was driven back, and on our 



WMBf 

imam 



mrJ0' 




LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 77 

pushing forward, the rebels advanced upon us in strong 
force. Our regiment was quickly formed in the woods, and 
charged over rocks and broken ground, through deep under- 
brush under the heavy fire of the enemy at short, range, 
and after one of the hottest fights of the war, we drove them 
out of the woods into an open field near the hilltop. An- 
other charge was ordered by Hayes. No sooner had he 
given the word of command than a minie ball from the 
enemy shattered his arm above the elbow, crushing the bone 
to fragments. He called to a soldier to tie his handkerchief 
about the wound, but, turning faint, he fell, his men passing- 
over and beyond him into the fight, whence he had ordered 
them. When he regained consciousness, Hayes found him- 
self under a heavy fire, with the bullets pelting the ground 
all about him. He feared that his men were retreating, but 
he was soon reassured, when on calling out he was carried 
safely into friendly cover." 

This is the story of the battle as McKinley tells it to 
show the bravery of Hayes, the commander; but while Mc- 
Kinley says nothing of himself, the story shows how fiercely 
the battle raged, and how bravely the Ohio boys marched 
into a terrific fire. Mc.Kinley's regiment made three suc- 
cessful charges in that fight, and lost nearly two hundred 
men — half of the effective force — in action. The 
charges were all with the bayonet, which shows that the 
Ohio boys were in the thick of the fight most of the time. 
Although the loss of the Union forces was great, the enemy's 
loss was heavier. 

'' The colors of the regiment were riddled," says White- 
law Reid in his ' Ohio in the War,' " the blue field was al- 
most entirely carried away by shells and bullets." 



78 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

After Hayes was wounded, Major Comly took command 
of the regiment, and led it with his accustomed bravery the 
rest of the <lav. Many interesting incidents are told of the 
battle. So hotly was the ground disputed that in manv 
cases the wounded on both sides were left huddled in the 
same shelter, and the Union boys and Confederates who 
were aide to converse, talked over the war in a friendly 
manner, which always seems to have been the case when 
they were not actually engaged in firing at each other. 

" What regiment do you belong to, and where are you 
from ? " asked a wounded Northern officer of a Confeder- 
ate lying close by. The southerner answered that he was 
major of a North Carolina regiment. 

" Well, you came a long way to fight us," said the north- 
erner. 

" Where are you from ? " asked the Confederate major. 

" I am from Ohio." 

" Well, you came a good way to fight us." 

And the enemies continued to talk in that friendly mam 
ner while the fight was raging fiercely about them. 

McKinley and his comrades were perfectly well aware 

that this hi ly day's work was only the beginning of more 

serious business directly ahead of them. The real purpose 
of the Confederates was to capture the city of Washington, 
in the expectation that Maryland would join their cause 
and insure final victory. The battle of South Mountain 
forced General Lee to retreat over the Antietam to Sharps- 
burg. For the next two days sharp skirmishes took place 
between different detachments, and on the 17th the bat- 
tle of Antietam began in earnest. 



CHAPTER VI. 

SECOND LIEUTENANT AT NINETEEN — PROMOTED FOR 
BRAVERY AT ANTIETAM. 

Antietam, the Bloodiest Day of the Civil War— The Hard Struggle 
around the Corn-field Surrounded by Woods — Varying For- 
tunes of the Day — No time for Rest or for Refreshment — 
Famished and Thirsty — Stragglers give Commissary-Ser- 
geant McKinley an Idea — Two Mule Teams Loaded with 
Hoi Coffee and Hot Meats — McKinley's Brave Dash under 
Constant Fire — Cheers for McKinley and his Coffee — Fight- 
ing with Renewed Energy — The Day Won — McKinley 
Promoted to be Second Lieutenant for his Gallantry — Head- 
ing off Morgan's Remarkable Raid — The Terrible March to 
Join Crook — Penetrating a Country Infested with Guerrillas. 

THE enemy in retiring behind Antietam Creek, had 
succeeded in occupying a strong position — a rug- 
ged and wooded plateau, descending to the hanks 
of the Antietam, which at that point is a deep stream, with 
few fords, and crossed by three stone bridges. On all favor- 
able points the enemy's artillery was posted, and their re- 
serves, hidden from view by the hills on which their lino 
of battle was formed, could manoeuver without being seen 
by the Union army. From the shortness of their line, 
they could also easily reinforce any point which needed 
strengthening. The 10th was spent in reeonnoitering and 
in hurrying up the ammunition and supply trains, which 

(79) 



80 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 

had been delayed by the rapid march of the troops. Dur- 
ing the day, the enemy opened a heavy fire of artillery, 
which was promptly returned. 

By daylight on the 17th, having crossed the Antietam 
by the bridge on the Ilagerstown Road, General Hooker at- 
tached the enemy's forces in front of him, and drove them 
from the open field in front of the first line of woods, into 
a second line of woods beyond. Here the battle raged 
fiercely for a time, and swayed to and fro with varying 
fortunes. The scene of the heaviest fighting was a piece 
of plowed land nearly inclosed by woods, and entered by a 
cornfield in the rear of the crest of the hill. 

Our troops suffered severely — the loss in officers and 
men was frightful — but towards the end of the day an 
order was given to retake the woods and cornfield, which 
had been so hotly contested, ami it was executed in a most 
gallant style. The enemy was driven out, and the federal 
troops were in undisputed possession of the whole field. 

The Twenty-third Ohio, to which young Sergeant Mc< 
Kinley belonged, was right in the heat of one of the hottest 
fights of that campaign. It was a bloody day. The total 
loss to the l T nion army in killed, wounded, and missing, was 
12,409 — that of the Confederates was at least as great. The 
( >hio men had gone into the battle at daylight, without break- 
fast, without even coffee. Raging as the battle did, it 
was not strange that early in the afternoon the men were 
famished and thirsty, and to some extent broken in spirit. 
The attack of the enemy was fierce and constant, and no 
troops could be spared to go to the rear for refreshments. 

Tt was in this situation that Sergeant McKinley, real- 
izinu' the weakness of the men, and what caused it, con 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLET. 81 

ceived a bold scheme to relieve them. Jle was in charge 
of the commissary department of his brigade, and neces- 
sarily his post of duty was with the commissary supplies, 
which were probably two miles from where his famished 
and exhausted comrades were fighting to hold their posi- 
tion and for their lives. As has always been the case in 
hot fights of that kind, there were some stragglers who, in- 
stead of staying at the front in defense of their position, 
found their way back to the supplies of the commissary de- 
partment. 

McKinley saw that he could utilize these stragglers to 
get together provisions and coffee, and carry them to the 
front. This was about the time when the fortunes of 
war were swaying to and fro, and it was doubtful whether 
Antietam would be a victory or a defeat. It was nearly 
dark, when suddenly there was heard tremendous cheer- 
ing along the left of the Twenty-third Ohio. General 
Scammon sent an officer, General Botsford, now of Youngs- 
town, to ascertain the cause of the Union cheering, and he 
galloped off to find that they were cheers for McKinley and 
his coffee. 

It required no ordinary bravery to leave his safe posi- 
tion at the commissary quarters and take the needed refresh- 
ments to t he-boys at the front. It had to be done in the 
midst of a desperate fight, with bullets and balls flying from 
all directions. - lie had filled two wagons, to which mules 
were attached^ with cans of coffee and supplies, and with 
the help of those whom he had brought into service, hurried 
them to the front. This boy of nineteen pushed on towards 
his regiment, was ordered back several times, but he did 
not stop. The mules of one wagon became disabled under 



82 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

the tiro, but with the other wagon he succeeded in reaching 
his regiment, receiving their hearty cheers. 

Such an act not only required bravery, but showed 
that McKinley was possessed of ability to grasp the require- 
ments of circumstances. It is doubtful if the Twenty-third 
Ohio, gallant as it was, could have endured the Confeder- 
ate onslaught on its position to the end of that bloody day 
or have had the courage to make that last successful charge 
had it not received the needed refreshments; for, as we 
have said, the men had gone into the battle without break- 
fast, and one act of bravery inspires another. It was not 
long after this occurred that the successful charge by the 
Union forces at Antietam was made, and the day closed to 
the advantage of the Union side at most points, even though 
it was not a decided success. Taken, however, with the 
battle of South Mountain, the result was to put the Con- 
federates on the defensive. Lee retreated to the left bank 
of the Potomac, and the immediate danger to Washington 
was over. 

Colonel Hayes was wounded in the battle of South 
Mountain, as related in a previous chapter, and could not 
participate in the battle of Antietam; but the news of Mc- 
Kinley's gallantry reached his ears, and when he went to 
Ohio to recover from his wounds, as he relates himself, he 
called upon Governor Tod, and told him of McKinley and 
his coffee. 

" Let McKinley be promoted from sergeant to lieuten- 
ant," said the war governor of Ohio. 

In order that there might be no slip about it, Colonel 
Hayes was requested to put it on the roster of the regiment, 
which he did, and McKinley was promoted. In 1891, 



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LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 85 

when McKinley had received his first nomination for gov- 
ernor, he was asked to address a religions gathering at Lake- 
side, Ohio. Ex-President Hayes was there to introduce 
him, and in his speech he told the circumstances of McKin- 
ley's brave act at Antietam. " From his hands/' said ex- 
President Hayes, "every man in the regiment was served 
with hot coffee and warm meats, a thing which had never 
occurred under similar circumstances in any other army 
in the world. He passed under fire, and delivered with his 
own hands these things so essential for the men for whom 
he was laboring." 

Colonel Hayes kept notes regularly from day to day of 
what was transpiring. When he went to Lakeside to intro- 
duce McKinley, he hunted up the old notebook of that 
period to see what it contained, and he found this entry: 

" Saturday, 13th December, 1862. Our new Second 
Lieutenant, McKinley, returned to-day — an exceedingly 
bright, intelligent, and gentlemanly young officer. He 
promises to be one of the best. He has kept the promise 
in every sense of the word." 

The battle of Antietam occurred on September 17, 
1862. The official records show that McKinley's promo- 
tion to second lieutenant of Company D occurred Septem- 
ber 23, 1862 — six days after his gallant act. It was the 
day after that memorable day in the history of the war and 
the history of the country, that President Lincoln issued 
his Emancipation Proclamation. 

Early in October, 1862, the Twenty-third Ohio was or- 
dered, with the rest of the Kanawha division, to return to 
"West Virginia, back over the same ground over which they 
had marched southward but a little while before. By 



86 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

November the regiment had reached its winter quarters near 
the falls of the Great Kanawha. During that year it had 
marched over six hundred miles. 

The men built for themselves cabins of planks and logs, 
so as to pass the winter as comfortably as the soldier could. 
The camp was named in honor of Colonel Hayes' wife, Camp 
Lucy Hayes. Late in January she came on from her Ohio 
home with her three boys to visit the colonel; other ladies 
also joined their husbands in camp. Mrs. Hayes performed 
many acts of kindness to the boys, who were proud of her 
presence, cheering them up if they manifested any signs of 
homesickness, and providing for the comfort of the fever- 
stricken in the hospital. 

Thus passed away the time for eight months — from 
November, 1862, to July, 1863. How much longer the reg- 
iment might have stayed there with no chance for active 
warfare, is a question, had not the Morgan raid occurred in 
July. Morgan crossed the Cumberland at Burkesville with 
about 2,500 men, and struck through the State of Kentucky 
t<» the Ohio Kiver. In five days he reached the river about 
sixty-five miles below Louisville, seized two steamers by 
which he sent his men across the river, thence pushing on 
through Southern Indiana towards Cincinnati, riding fifty 
and sixty miles a day, burning bridges, cutting telegraph 
wires, and leaving general consternation behind him. He 
passed on so swiftly and so secretly that on the afternoon of 
tlif 11th he had reached a point only twenty-eight 
miles east of Cincinnati. The raiders dashed on, meeting 
with very little fighting in their course. The Twenty-third 
Ohio heard of Morgan's presence in their State by the 16th 
of July, and Colonel Hayes prepared to head him off. He 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 87 

did it with dispatch. Choosing two regiments and a section 
of artillery, and embarking his force, he reached Grallipolis 
on the 18th. A little further on, Hayes's forces met the 
raiders, and after a slight skirmish Morgan lied, and the 
Twenty-third was sent in pursuit. Next day the raiders 
were entirely routed, more than half of them were cap- 
tured, and later on Morgan surrendered with the remnant 
of his men, and was sent to the Ohio Penitentiary. 

The Twenty-third returned from this raid, with the rest 
of Hayes's command, where it lay for another long and 
dreary season in camp, until April 29, 1864. The interval, 
however, was a season of expectation and preparation for 
various services. When the regiment finally moved in 
April, it was to a point a few miles above Brownstown, on 
the Kanawha, to join the forces under General Crook in a 
raid on the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. 

Without detailing their daily marches, it is sufficient 
to say that the regiment toiled over the rugged mountains, 
up ravines, and through the dense woods, meeting with 
snows and rain in sufficient volume to appal the stoutest 
hearts; but they toiled patiently, occasionally brushing the 
enemy out of their way, until on the 9th of May, 1861, the 
battle of Cloyd Mountain was fought. 

McKinley himself says of this march: " It was a rough 
and trying march over mountains and through deep ravines 
and dense woods, with snows and rains that would have 
checked the advance of any but the most determined. 
Daily we were brought in contact with the enemy. We 
penetrated a country where guerrillas were abundant, and 
where it was not an unusual thing for our men to be shot 
from the underbrush — murdered in cold blood." 
6 



CHAPTER VII. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT AT TWENTY — BATTLE OF CLOYD 
MOUNTAIN. 

McKinley's Rapid Promotion — Made First Lieutenant — His 
Tact and Ability — Debates in Winter Quarters — The Ex- 
pedition to Join General Crook — Tiresome Marches over a 
Rough Country — Skirmishes with the Enemy — A Dash 
across the Meadows, through the Stream, and up the Hill — 
Shaking the Water out of their Boots — A Terrible Charge 
and a Murderous Fire — Scaling the Fortifications — Hand to 
Hand Struggle in the Fort — Rebels Driven Out — Burning the 
Bridges — Crossing the Alleghanies Four Times and the Blue 
Ridge Twice — Marching a Day and all Night without Sleeping 
— Arrival at Winchester. 

THE lad of eighteen who had insisted upon enlisting in 
defense of the Union, had not yet seen two years of 
service, but his promotion had been rapid. Hayes 
had been quick to observe the diligence and tact of the young 
man in camp, and had placed him in the important position 
of commissary-sergeant. His next promotion was earned 
after his display of foresight and bravery at Antietam; but 
it was only four months after he had earned that deserved 
advancement before he received another. This third 
promotion, like his first, occurred during life in the winter 
quarters, and he was made first lieutenant of Company E, 
February 7, 1863. In all the arrangements of the camp 

(88) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 80 

near the falls of the Greal Kanawha, from October, L862, 
until July of the next year, McKinley, as the second lieu- 
tenant of Company D, had taken an interested and active 
part. Some of the pleasantcst recollections of the veterans 
of the Twenty-third Ohio concerned that winter at Camp 
" Lucy Hayes." There were such amusements as cam]) 
life afforded, for there was little or no active business to he 
done except in drilling. There was some riding, fishing, and 
heating, and now and then a pleasure excursion. Every- 
thing that could be done for the comfort of the Ohio 
hoys was done, and Lieutenant McKinley showed his skill 
and executive management in whatever duties he had to 
perform. 

Stories are told also of interesting debates that occurred 
in those days of waiting, in which McKinley took an 
active part, and gave evidence then of the marvelous power 
which later made him famous, of going straight to the point 
of disputed questions. We can only guess at some of the 
subjects that were debated that winter, for they probably 
concerned the course of the war. In November, 1862, Gen- 
eral McClellan was relieved of his command of the Army 
of the Potomac, and General Burnside moved to the Kap- 
pa hannock, where the battle of Fredericksburg took place. 
General Sherman was active at Vicksburg in December. 
Active steps were taken that winter in Congress for prose- 
cuting the war vigorously until the rebellion should be 
suppressed. These, and other events, we may rest assured, 
constituted subjects for discussion about the camp fires and 
for those little debates in winter quarters. 

It was, therefore, as first lieutenant of company E, that 
McKinley took part in the important battle of Cloyd 



90 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Mountain, which followed the movement to join the forces 
of General Crook. In this affair, the Twenty-third was out 
the right of the First brigade, which was commanded by 
Colonel Hayes. The other regiments were mainly Ohio 
troops accustomed to service under him, and, like the 
Twenty-third, eager for the fight, even after so difficult 
and wearying a march. The object of the expedition was- 
to destroy the Virginia and Tennessee railroad bridge oni 
New River, which would cut the great line of communica- 
tions between Richmond and the Southwest. General 
Crook was still a young man, but he had already won dis- 
tinction in the Indian service, and he brought his peculiar 
shrew T dness to work in this undertaking. Marching up the 
Kanawha, he sent all his music, with one regiment, ahead 
toward Leesburg, in the direction of Richmond, while he 1 
proceeded in a different direction towards the New River 
bridge. The bands, thus detached, were ordered to play as 
if the whole army were behind them. The first result of 
this was the bloodless capture of Fort Breckenridge, out of 
which the enemy fled at the approach of what seemed to be 
an immense force. On the parapet of this fort, the words 
"Fort Breckenridge" had been handsomely carved; but 
the Ohio men immediately went to work to substitute the 
words, " Fort Crook." 

Soon after, the Confederates, discovering that they had 
been frightened out of the fort, hurried back. A con- 
siderable force of them was gathered under Genera] Jenkins, 
who placed his army across the track of Crook's men, some 
distance southward, where they were forced to traverse a 
high mountain ridge, which was called Cloyd Mountain, 
and here the enemy was entrenched. The ridge was thickly 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKLYLEY. 91 

wooded, steep and difficult to ascend, and was skirted by a 
stream of water from two to three feet deep. The ap- 
proach was through a beautiful meadow, five or six thousand 
yards in width. 

Crook's men arrived shortly before midday on the 9th, 
and quickly came within cannon shot of the enemy, who 
opened fire upon them. It was clear at the start that den- 
kins was very strongly fortified, and that his position could 
not be taken without the hottest kind of fighting. One 
attack was made and repulsed, when General Crook came 
to Colonel Hayes and ordered him, with his brigade and 
the brigade on his right, to cross the meadow and charge up 
the hill upon the batteries, adding that he would accompany 
him. The two brigades formed in the borders of the woods 
and marched up in perfect line. At the word of command, 
the regiment advanced at a double-quick across the meadow, 
under a heavy fire of musketry and artillery, until it came 
to the edge of the woods. The Confederate fortifications 
on the woody hill could not be seen, and at the foot of the 
hill was the creek, which had also remained unseen; but the 
Ohio boys dashed through it, and started up the hill at a 
point so steep that the ground above protected them from 
the enemy's fire. Stopping for a minute to take breath, and 
shake the water out of their boots, they charged up the hill 
again. 

But as they passed over the protecting curve of the hill, 
they faced a murderous fire. Officers and men fell in fearful 
slaughter on all sides. For a moment the whole line seemed 
to waver and go down, but the men who were not hit 
pushed on — there was no straggling. The officers called 
for a charge, the men responded cheerfully and were soon 



92 LIFE OF WILLIAM MeKINLEY. 

at the fort, which was an earthwork rather hastily thrown 
ii]) and strengthened with fence rails stuck endwise into it 
and through it. It was a very difficult embankment to sur- 
mount, and the enemy held it in perfect confidence. 

All accounts of the battle state that Hayes's men were 
the first to scramble over the enemy's fortifications, and 
were the bravest in that fierce struggle for the guns. The 
first to reach one of the enemy's guns was Private Kosht, 
a boy of eighteen, a new recruit in Company G, of which 
Lieutenant MeKinley was soon to be made the captain. He 
sprang from the line with a shout, and hung his cap on the 
muzzle of one of the enemy's cannons. 

Haves was greatly pleased with the bravery of his men, 
and in this engagement, as in others, he recognized the su- 
perior qualities of McKinley as a soldier. In a letter writ- 
ten home ten days later, Hayes says: "My command in 
battles and on the march behaved to my entire satisfaction; 
none did, none could have done, better. We had a most 
conspicuous part in the battle of Cloyd Mountain, and were 
s< i lucky ! I hardly know what I would change in it except 
to restore life and limb to the killed and wounded." 

In the only reference which we can find to this desperate 
battle in McKinley's speeches, he says: " The ad- 

vance across the meadow in full sight of the enemy, and in 
range of their guns through the creek, and up over the ridge, 
was magnificently executed, and the hand-to-hand combat 
in the fort was as desperate as any witnessed during the 
war. Still another charge was made and the rebels again 
driven back. On we hurried to Dublin Depot, on the Vir- 
ginia & Tennessee Railroad, burning the bridges there, 
tearing up the track, and rendering the railroad useless for 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 93 

the transportation of soldiers or supplies. Then the New 
River bridge was destroyed, and then with frequent en- 
counters we went on to Staunton, Va." 

At Staunton on the 8th of June, the Ohio brigade joined 
General Hunter's command, and on the 11th, the corps 
arrived before Lexington, which was taken after an artillery 
and sharp-shooter fight for three hours. 

On the 14th, the Ohio brigade was led to within two 
miles of Lynchburg, where it drove a body of the enemy up 
the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad, capturing four pieces 
of their artillery. That night the army camped near Lynch- 
burg, and so near a body of rebels that the men of both sides 
took rails from the same fence for their fires. After lying 
in camp for four days, the command set out to Lynchburg, 
when the news came that the enemy, heavily reinforced, 
was about to attack Hunter's center. The Union forces 
met and repulsed this attack, which was a very sharp one; 
but the same evening it was found that reinforcements for 
the enemy were pouring in from Richmond, and the re- 
treat of the Union side began, with a rapid march toward 
the town of Liberty. 

McKinley, in speaking of the retreat, said: " All our 
commissary supplies were consumed, and almost without 
food we marched and fought our way back, closely pursued 
by the enemy." 

But the men never faltered, and no murmurs were heard. 
Occasionally men would drop out exhausted, but not a word 
of complaint was spoken. They reached Buford Gap about 
10 o'clock on the morning of the 20th; Salem about a. 
m. the next day. The skirmishing continued without any 
intermission until 10 o'clock that night, when they reached 



94 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

the foot of North Mountain and enjoyed a little sleep. At 
last, on the 27th, a supply train was met on Big Sewell 
Mountain, and to use Hayes's words: " We stopped and ate, 
marched and ate, camped about dark, and ate all night." 

In those nine days, the Ohio men marched 180 miles, 
fighting nearly all the time, with very little rest, very little 
eating, and very little chance for either. They had crossed 
three ranges of the Alleghanies four times, the ranges of 
the Blue Ridge twice, and marched several times all day and 
all night without sleep. 

It is a strong comment upon the will power of McKin- 
ley, who just before his enlistment had been compelled to 
leave his college life because of impaired health, that he 
was able to endure, without sickness or serious mishap, not 
only the warm engagements in which the Twenty-third Ohio 
had participated, but some of the severest and most exhaust- 
ing marches in the war. 

Remaining at Charleston until the 10th, Crook's com- 
mand was ordered East to meet Early, then invading Mary- 
land and Pennsylvania. On the 18th, the Ohio men were 
sent without cavalry and with but two sections of howit- 
zer battery to attack more than 20,000 of Early's men, about 
ten miles beyond Harper's Ferry. They cut their way 
through two divisions of rebel cavalry which surrounded 
them, and got safely back to camp, joining Crook at "Win- 
chester on the 2 2d. Here, two days afterward, the Ohio 
regiment shared in the first defeat it had known, but it was 
a battle in which McKinley made himself conspicuous for 
his bravery. 



CHAPTER VII L 
Mckinley at kernstown — a ride in the face of 

DEATH. 

Deceived as to Early's Movements — Crook's Troops Left Alone 
in the Field — Worn Out by Hard Marches and Fighting — 
Aroused by the Booming of Cannon on a Bright Sunday Morn- 
ing — Preparing for the Battle — Ohio Men Led to the Front of 
the Line — Lieutenant McKinley one of the Staff Officers — 
Gallant Resistance of the Staff Brigade — Hayes Sends 
McKinley on a Dangerous Mission — He Gallops across the 
Field in Front of the Enemy — Shells Burst about him and 
Cannon Balls Plough the Ground in liis Path — Saving the 
Guns from the Enemy — He comforts an Old Lady. 

AFTER a wearisome retreat from a raid against Early's 
forces, it was thought that the Confederates were 
at a safe distance, and would occasion no further 
trouble for some little time, and the exhausted Ohio regi- 
ment prepared for a season of much-needed rest at a cam}) 
near Winchester, where there was one of the noted springs 
of the valley gushing in abundance from a crevice in the 
limestone rock. The boys rolled themselves in their blan- 
kets, and laid down in the long grass under the shade of the 
towering oak trees, and devoted the better part of two days 
to sleep, of which they had enjoyed so little in their long cam- 
paign. It was supposed by General Grant that General Lee 

had ordered Early with his large army to Richmond, and as 

(95) 



96 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

< 1 rant thought he needed more troops with him before Rich- 
mond, he had ordered two corps to that place. This left 
only Hunter's command in the valley to confront the Con- 
federates, supposed to have been left in the valley, and this 
command consisted of General Crook's Eighth Infantry 
corps, about six thousand in number, with one brigade made 
up of decimated infantry regiments and dismounted cavalry. 
Many of the men also had, as we have seen, been through 
severe marches and could hardly have felt in condition to 
meet a rebel army several times their number. There was 
in addition to this force some cavalry under Generals Averill 
and Duffle, about two thousand strong. The Eighth In- 
fantry corps, which took such an important part in this bat- 
tle, was a brigade commanded by Hayes. 

General Early had halted at Strasburg, and while there 
had learned that Grant had withdrawn two corps towards 
Washington, and that the forces at Winchester consisted 
only of those of Crook, and he knew that they were not more 
than one-third his own numbers. He determined, there- 
lore, to return and crush Crook without delay. Of Early's 
change of plans and reapproach, Crook had no information. 
In this situation it was not long before the resting spell of 
the Ohio boys came to a sudden close. 

On July 24th, a bright Sunday morning, their attention 
was attracted to the sound of cannon well out on their 
front, towards the south. They usually paid little atten- 
tion to this sort of thing, knowing that the cavalry was apt 
to be engaged with skirmishers at almost any time, but the 
frequency of the firing increasing, ('rook's troops began to 
suspect that there was a battle ahead of them. Very soon 
word of the approach of the enemy was brought to General 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 97 

Crook by cavalry outposts, on the Valley pike, some ten 
miles south of Winchester, who had been driven in by what 
appeared to be a large force, but General Crook, relying on 
the information he had obtained, that Early was still on his 
way to Richmond, concluded that it was unnecessary to im- 
mediately move out and form a line of battle. But message 
after message continuing to arrive at his headquarters re- 
porting large bodies of the enemy's infantry as having been 
seen, he finally ordered his troops to advance and form a 
line of battle? at a little hamlet called Kernstown, some 
four miles south of Winchester, the place where General 
Shields had met and repulsed Stonewall Jackson in 1862. 

Crook still supposed that the enemy in sight was only 
a section bent upon reconnoissance, and he dispatched Hayes 
with his brigade to meet what he supposed was this small 
contingent of the enemy, with orders to join his right to that 
of another brigade commanded by Colonel Mulligan, and 
charge with it. The brigade marched out in the open field, 
where Hayes, conferring with Mulligan, found that their 
orders coincided. They were to keep the two lines together, 
and attack wdiatever was in front. At first, only two lines 
of rebels, fighting as skirmishers, were in sight, but very 
soon Hayes and Mulligan received reports of the enemy on 
the lulls to the right and to the left, enclosing the valley in 
which the brigade was drawn up. Upon closer inspection, 
the more numerous appeared the forces of the enemy in 
these strong positions. 

• The officers saw that they were in a trap, but they obeyed 
orders and pushed forward. Crook saw then for the first 
time that he had been deceived about Early's march to 
Richmond. Sharp firing began all along the lint 1 of bat- 



98 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

tie, the federal artillery on the high ground at the rear fir- 
ing over the heads of the infantry, and the enemy's artil- 
lery replying at once with shells that exploded all about the 
Ohio men. It was a discouraging situation. There they 
were, only about six thousand strong — some regiments dec- 
imated, and many of the men in a weak condition — sur- 
rounded by a veteran army of perhaps twenty thousand. 
The infantry line of the enemy extended far beyond the left 
of Hayes's brigade, and further away the Confederate cav- 
alry were charging the Union cavalry forces, and driving 
them back in great confusion. 

The situation was such that however gallantly the in- 
fantry might keep back the Confederates in front, the long 
advancing line on the left, with nothing to oppose it, would 
soon engulf the whole little army. This was the plan Early 
carried out for crushing the Union forces, and when closing 
in, the nondescript brigade near the center of the Union 
line broke in great confusion. It was not until this oc- 
curred, and not until they had administered some severe 
punishment to the enemy directly in front of them, that the 
Ohio boys fell back, retreating, however, in good order. It 
was an exciting and dangerous moment. All that they 
could hope to do was to extricate themselves. The staff 
officers were busy sending orders in all directions — to some 
'mic to repair rapidly to the rear, so as to form a guard line 
ami stop the stragglers; to another to push back to the rear 
and oidcr the wagon train in full retreat towards Martins- 
burg; to another to proceed to the battery and order it to 
form vapidly on an adjacent ridge and play with shot and 
shell upon the advancing enemy, and so it was that this chiss 
of stafl officers became exceedingly scarce. Tt is said that 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 99 

Crook was at one time absolutely without a staff officer 
about him, having already borrowed of Hayes several, and 
still he had need for mure. 

It was just at this important moment that Lieutenant 
McKinley performed one of the most daring feats of the 
Civil war, showing his thorough devotion to duty, and his 
bravery in the face of death. One of the regiments, Col- 
onel Brown's, had failed to fall back, owing to lack of orders, 
and was still in the orchard, where posted at the beginning 
of the battle. It was in an extremely dangerous position, 
suffering severely, and could not hold out much longer, 
though bravely refusing to yield its ground. General 
Hayes — as the story is told by General Hastings — turn- 
ing to Lieutenant McKinley, directed him to go and bring- 
away that regiment if it had not already fallen into the 
hands of the enemy. Quick as a flash McKinley turned his 
horse and pushed it at a fierce gallop obliquely across the 
fields towards the advancing rebels. It was a sad look that 
Hayes gave to this gallant boy officer as he saw him push- 
ing rapidly towards what seemed almost certain death. 
Hayes loved McKinley like a brother, but he knew it was 
his duty to save that regiment if he could, and he knew 
that McKinley would do it if it could be done. Through- 
out the regiment McKinley was much loved, going as he did 
into the war as a mere boy, and showing upon so many oc- 
casions so much bravery and tact. They had seen him 
rapidly promoted because of these qualities over many older 
than himself, and they admired and liked him. 

We could imagine, therefore, what the feelings of Hayes 
and the Ohio boys were when they saw McKinley urging 
his horse through the open fields, over fences and through 



100 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKLNLEY. 

ditches, while the enemy was pouring a rapid and well-di- 
rected lire upon him, shells exploding about him, and balls 
ploughing the ground in his path. His Ohio comrades 
never expected to see him alive again. Once he was com- 
pletely enveloped in the smoke of an exploding shell — they 
thought it was all over, that another gallant soldier had 
bitten the dust — but the wiry little horse emerged from it, 
with McKinley still firmly seated. Then there was a mo- 
ment of relief. His path had led him to a position where 
he was under cover for a time, and out of much danger from 
the enemy's fire, but the greater danger was still ahead, for 
the enemy was still coming on, and McKinley must again 
ride out into the open field and into the very face of death. 
The batteries which Crook had placed on the ridge near 
by kept the enemy in check at this important moment for a 
little, and McKinley galloped up to the endangered regi- 
ment and gave the orders of Hayes to fall back, saying 
to the Colonel, " I should have supposed you would have 
gone to the rear without orders." 

" I was thinking I would retreat without waiting any 
longer for orders," said the colonel; " I am now ready to 
go wherever you lead, but, lieutenant, I just want to give 
those fellows one or two more volleys before I go." 

" Then up and let them have it as quickly as possible," 
replied McKinley. 

The regiment jumped to its feet and came into full 
view. The West Virginia boys gave the enemy a fresh 
volley, following it up with a sharp fire, and then, McKinley 
leading the way back, they slowly retreated towards some 
woods directly in the rear. Most of the brigade had been 
turned back to the wooded hill, where it held its ground, 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. ]{):] 

the enemy pressing hard on all sides. This section 
finally made good its escape around the Winchester 
pike. At a point near Winchester McKinley brought the 
regiment he had saved to the column, and to its place in the 
brigade. As McKinley drew up by the side of Hayes to 
made his verbal report, Hayes said, " I never expected to 
sec you in life again." His Ohio comrades knew that one 
of the most gallant acts of the war had been performed. 

The retreat continued until midnight. When the 
enemy pressed too hard, the Union forces turned and beat 
him back, and so finally made good their escape, but it 
was a very harrassing battle all the way. They marched 
down the pike, first through Winchester where the inhabi- 
tants were out in force, some sympathizing with the Union 
forces and some not, the jubilant faces outnumbering the 
sad ones. The story is told of one old Quaker lady who stood 
at her gate as McKinley and his comrades passed by, tears 
running down her cheeks in pity for the gallant Union sol- 
diers in this misfortune. Mindful of her safety with 
her Confederate neighbors close by, the boys made no 
effusive display of sympathy for her in her sorrow. But, 
McKinley, in the kindness of his heart, reigned his horse 
to the curbstone, and in a low voice said to the old lady, out 
(if hearing of her neighbors, "Don't worry, my dear Mad- 
am, we are not hurt as much as it seems, and we shall be 
back again in a few days." Her tearful face lit up with a 
smile of joy. 

After the regiment had passed Winchester, the rebel in- 
fantry caused less annoyance, but the cavalry pushed on 
and harrassed the men during all the afternoon. Towards 
midnight the enemy ceased to pursue, and the Union forces 



104 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBT. 

changed their column into a route march, and tramped on 
in comparative peace, many of the men embracing their 
first opportunity to think of food. As they were trudging 
along, wondering where they would find the balance of the 
command and the wagon train, it was discovered that at 
some time during the previous afternoon there had been a 
stampede of the wagon train, and several wagons had been 
abandoned and left on the road. jSTo food was in them and 
they were soon reduced to ashes to make them useless to the 
enemy. Further along they came upon a battery of ar- 
tillery consisting of four guns and their caissons which had 
been abandoned and left in the way, an easy capture for 
the enemy. It would hardly be supposed that McKinley 
or any of the officers who had been fighting all day and were 
eager to find food would think of stopping to take the trouble 
to rescue those guns, but here it was again that McKinley 
showed his character. He asked the privilege of carrying 
away these guns and thus saving them from the enemy. It 
did not seem to the superior officers practicable, owing to the 
exhausted condition of the men, but he insisted it could be 
done. 

" The Twenty-third will help me," said McKinley. 

" Well, McKinley, ask them," replied Hayes. 

He went to his company, called for volunteers, and every 
man stepped out. Their spirit invigorated the whole regi- 
ment, which took hold at once and hauled the guns and cais- 
sons off in triumphant procession. That night, long after 
dark, when they went into camp, the artillery captain, who 
had been obliged to leave his guns, was found, and, as the 
story is told, when the guns were turned over to him he 
cried like a child. 



3 X 




CHAPTER IX. 

A CAPTAIN AT TWENTY-ONE — AID-DE-CAMP ON 
SHERIDAN'S STAFF. 

McKinley's Quick Promotion after his Heroic Conduct at Kerns- 
town— Made Captain of one of the Bravest Companies in the 
Twenty-third — Acting on Sheridan's Staff — Daily Skirmishes 
in the Shenandoah Valley — Fierce Engagement at Berryville 
— McKinley's Horse Shot under him — Firing Stopped 
by the Surgeons and Burial Parties — Battle of Opequan — 
Must Cross a Slough or Die — Fierce Charge up a Steep 
Bank — Reinforcements from the Cavalry — Complete Dis- 
persion of the Rebels — McKinley's Quickness of Action and 
Good Judgment — Acting without Definite Orders — Gaining 
Still Further Honors — Battle of Fisher's Hill. 

BRAVERY of the kind that McKinley displayed at 
Kernstown did not pass unappreciated or unre- 
warded. Hayes was deeply affected by the act. 
Crook admired the nerve of the Ohio boy, and we find the 
official records stating that on the next day, July 25, 18G4, 
Lieutenant McKinley was promoted to the captaincy of Com- 
pany G, which had the reputation of being one of the bravest 
of the Twenty-third Ohio. Thus in three years, and at the 
age of twenty-one, he had gained a conspicuous position in 
campaigns, which, taken together, can safely be called some 
of the hardest of the war. For almost a month after the se- 
vere experiences at Kernstown, the Ohio boys were a part 
7 "(107) 



108 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

of Hayes's brigade engaged in almost daily skirmishes up 
and down the Shenandoah Valley, with varying fortune, 
until the 23d of August, at llalltown, they repulsed an at- 
tack with a brilliant dash, and picked up "a small South 
Carolina regiment entire." This charge was so brilliantly 
executed, and caused so much astonishment among the rebel 
prisoners, that one of them was forced to express his sur- 
prise in the rather characteristic query: " Who the 

are you 'uns ? " 

Another engagement of more than usual fierceness, in 
the thickest of which McKinley and his comrades were 
called upon to act, took place on the 3d of December at Ber- 
ryvillo. It was a long fight without a decisive victory, al- 
though many rebels were killed and taken. They belonged 
to Long-street's crack division, and relying on their reputa- 
tion they had gone into the battle with wild yells, but the 
Ohio men gave them worse than they took, and drove them 
back with tremendous slaughter. In the encounter, Cap- 
tain McKinley's horse was shot under him. Towards 
evening the Union forces attempted to hold a piece of turn- 
pike road by which a body of cavalry, sent out to cut off 
the supplies in the rear of Early's army, were to rejoin the 
division. The men were posted behind the terrace wall 
fur about a mile along the road, and the enemy began the 
battle by a. charge, coming within a few yards of the wall. 
The Ohio boys rose with a yell, poured a deadly fire into 
the enemy's ranks, and then charged. The rebels were 
thrown into wild disorder, turned and ran, being pur- 
.-11 I'd to their reserve line. There they rallied, and by 
a gallant stand repulsed the Union forces, who took cover 
in a piece of woods. 



LIFE OP WILLIAM McKINLEY. 109 

Then occurred a very strange situation. It had grown 
very dark. The commanders on both sides wished to with- 
draw their men. Hayes received orders to stop the battle 
if he could, and it seems the rebels were quite as willing 

to do so on their part. But neither side would stop until 
the other stopped. The men on both sides were ordered to 
let the fire drop, and so less and less frequently came the 
shots, until at last there was only here and there the flash 
of a rifle in the darkness. Then suddenly at some point 
three or four would fire by chance together, and thinking 
the battle was raging again, the whole of both sides would 
engage. And so the firing kept up without the retirement 
of either army until the surgeons and burying parties from 
both sides began to mingle together with lanterns, looking- 
for the wounded and the dead between the two opposing 
forces. "When these dim lights flitting over the bloody 
field appeared, the firing ceased, and the forces withdrew. 

Speaking of the engagement, McKinley said : " It will 
not soon be forgotten. It was a brilliant scene; the heav> 
ens were fairly illuminated by the flashes of our own and 
the enemy's guns. Later, when both armies determined to 
retire, it became my duty to direct a regiment at some dis- 
tance from the others to move. A stranger in the darkness, 
jl knew nothing of that country. When I started on my 
mission, some one on the other side was doing just what T 
was, as I could tell from what I could hear. I had not gone 
far until I was halted by a sentinel with ' Who comes thar ? ' 
The distinct Southern brogue was warning, and T hastened 
the other way. Very soon I was stopped with ' Who comes 
there ? ' and I recognized friends. I gave the countersign, 
and soon had the regiment moving." 






11Q LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

After this affair, there was a lull in the hostili- 
ties until the 10th, when the battle of Opequan was fought, 
and here McKinley further distinguished himself by his 
quick action and good judgment. It was near Winchester, 
where, two months before, the Ohio boys had been caught in 
a trap, and so gallantly made their escape. The fight began 
al daylight, and during the morning the tide was rather 
against the Union forces. At noon, things looked dark on 
the Union side, but at this time, while the Confederates were 
rejoicing over an apparent victory, Hayes's brigade led the 
charge through a swamp, or what was really a deep creek 
with high banks and boggy margins. 

The rebel fire fell upon the boys in all its fury as their 
line reached this formidable obstacle. There was a mo- 
ment's wavering, but they saw it was death to stop then. 
The men swarmed over as best they could, and when some 
two score had landed, they charged up the bank upon the 
enemy, whose artillery had been left entirely unsupported 
at that point, not dreaming of an attack. The batteries 
were taken, and then the whole of Crook's command having 
crossed, a charge was made in the face of a most destruc- 
tive fire. At times, the Union boys wavered under the ter- 
rible storm of grape and musketry, but they pushed on, and 
nt a critical moment, as General Hayes wrote in one of his 
letters, ''That splendid cavalry with drawn sabres, moved 
slowly around our right beyond the creek, then at a trot, 
and finally with shouts and a gallop, charged right into the 
rebel lines. We pushed on, and away broke the rebels." 

Tt was in the early part of the day, before Colonel Du- 
val was wounded and carried from the field that McKinley 
showed his good judgment and quickness in execution. Act- 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 113 

ing as aid-de-camp on Sheridan's staff, he brought a verbal 
order to Colonel Duval to move his command quickly to a 
position on the right of the Sixth corps. General Duval, 
not knowing the very uncertain topography of the country, 
asked McKinley: 

" By what route shall I move my command ? " It 
looked a very poor country for moving troops anywhere. 
Captain McKinley, knowing no more about the lay of the 
land than did Duval, and without any definite orders from 
his superior as to the way in which Duval was to move his 
troops, replied: " I would move by this creek." 

" I will not budge an inch without definite orders," 
said Duval. 

" This is a case of great emergency, General," replied 
McKinley. " I order you, by command of General Crook, 
to move your command up this ravine to a position on the 
right of the army." 

The general did so. In a short time his division was 
in place, and made a gallant charge on the enemy in their 
fortified position, driving them in confusion from their 
works. 

Had McKinley made a mistake in thus assuming so 
heavy a responsibility, he would probably have lost very 
much, if not all, that he had gained by so much bravery in 
previous engagements. His suggestion that Duval should 
move up the creek, was not a random one. It proved to be 
an evidence of good judgment, for General Harris, who 
had received his order to move to the same point a little 
earlier, and who had probably moved upon his own plans 
by another route, got into a thick woods, and did not 
reaeh the objective point until sometime after Duval, act- 



114 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

ing upon MeKinley's orders, bad been in position and done 
considerable good fighting. 

It is said tbat when Captain McKinley reported what 
he had done, the general said: 

" That is all right, my boy, since the movement turned 
out successfully; but if it had resulted in disaster, it would 
have been all wrong.'' 

Immediately after this engagement occurred the battle 
of Fisher's Hill, which McKinley says was " one of the 
most brilliant of the many brilliant achievements of Gen- 
eral George Crook. It was a flank movement through the 
mountains and woods to the enemy's right. Never did 
troops advance with greater difficulty on what appeared to 
be an impossible route over the mountain side where it 
seemed the foot of man had never trod." 

This battle was really more of a bloodless victory than a 
fight, and consisted largely in a capture of artillery by our 
forces, without the loss of a man, although the movement of 
the troops was very difficult. The enemy had retreated 
some twenty-five miles up the Shenandoah valley to a point 
where it is very narrow, and traversed by a little ridge called 
Fisher's Bill, where there was a natural fortification 
which seemed impregnable. Crook and Sheridan con- 
sulted, and the result was a resolution not to attack the 
enemy in front, though it was probable that an army, de- 
moralized by so recent a defeat, could be broken, even in 
that position; but it. was decided to turn their left. Crook 
took Bayes's division, the general and the colonel riding 
on together at the head of the men. They clambered up 
and down mountain sides and through ravines until they 
-truck the gorge in which the rebels were posted, and there 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. Hf, 

Haves led the charge of the Union forces, consisting largely 
of the Ohio men, by speeding ahead and down upon the 
rebel lines. The whole division followed with a shout, and 
the rebels, who were men of Jackson's old corps and Early's 
veterans, broke and ran in hopeless confusion, leaving every 
gun. 

All discipline and organization of the rebels was lost; 
the retreating mass was scattered over the fields and 
roads towards Woodstock, with our infantry in pursuit. 
Through the night the pursuit was continued to Woodstock, 
ten miles from Fisher's Hill, which onr infantry reached by 
daylight of the 23d, when a necessary halt was made to 
allow for rest and food, and to reorganize the troops, which 
had been thrown into some confusion by their rapid move- 
ments. The forces of the enemy had thus been practically 
driven from the valley, w T hieh, in its whole extent, was now 
in possession of the northern troops. 



CHAPTER X. 

A MAJOR AT TWENTY-TWO - CLOSE OF McKINLEY'S 
FIGHTING DAYS. 

Battle of Cedar Creek —The Sound of Firing at Sunrise— Sheridan 
Starts for Winchester— Meeting Stragglers Going to the Rear 
— His Push to the Front — Rides up to McKinley as he is 
Rallying his Troops — Asks McKinley for Crook — Together 
they Gallop off to Find Crook — Cheers from the Troops — 
McKinley Helps Sheridan Take off his Overcoat — The Charge 
Against the Enemy — Rebels Swept out of Camp — Disaster 
Turned to Victory — McKinley Accompanies Crook to West 
Virginia — Brevetted Major for Bravery at Opequan, 
Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek — At Washington When Lee 
Surrendered and When Lincoln was Shot — Mustered out. 

CAPTAIN McKINLEY was still serving on the staff 
of General Crook when that notable engagement 
occurred, October 19, 1S64, at Cedar Creek, to 
which General Sheridan made his famous ride, and in which 
Captain McKinley did further gallant sendee. Sheridan 
had been strongly urged by Grant and Ilalleek to con- 
tinue southward and pursue the Confederates towards Char- 
lottesville, I ait Sheridan considered the expedition imprac- 
ticable, and being left free to act upon his own judgment, 
marched his army northward and was gradually followed by 
the Confederate forces, who on the 12th arrived again at 
Fisher's Hill. I>y the 1 lth the Union forces had been 
placed in a strong defensive position on the north bank of 

(116) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. H7 

Cedar Creek, Crook's division, in which McKinley's Ohio 
comrades were serving, holding the ground from the north 
hank of the Shenandoah to the valley pike. 

General Sheridan had been summoned to Washin°-ton 
to consult concerning the future of the campaign in the 
valley ; considering that the army's position at Cedar Creek 
was secure, and leaving General Wright in command, he 
started for the capital. There he succeeded in securing 
the approval of his own plans, and started on his return to 
his troops, arriving at Winchester, about twelve miles north 
of Cedar Creek, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 18th. 
There he devoted the rest of the day to examining the 
ground that was proposed as a site of a position to be proper- 
ly fortified for future occupation. After sunset a courier 
arrived from Cedar Creek, bringing word that every- 
thing was all right; that the enemy was quiet at Fisher's 
Hill, and that one of the corps of the Union army was 
ordered to make a reconnoissance on the right at daylight 
of the 19th. Thus reassured, General Sheridan rested 
quietly at Winchester. The faint sounds of irregular firing 
he heard early the next morning were supposed to result 
from the movements of the reconnoitering party, but the 
firing continned, and the sound of the cannonading became 
so frequent and distinct that the general determined to go 
at once to the front. By 9 o'clock he was on his way. 

It is a pity to depreciate the romantic features with 
which the poetic imagination of Thomas Buchanan Reed 
invests Sheridan's ride. Sheridan himself, in his memoirs, 
strips the story of some of its poetic conceptions. On the 
morning of the battle, hearing the sound of guns, he rode 
at a moderate pace out of Winchester, until some little dis- 



118 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

tance south of the town, when he began to meet on the road 
stragglers and numerous baggage wagons, and he was in- 
formed that serious disaster had overtaken the troops. From 
this time he pressed rapidly forward. The further he pro- 
ceeded, the more the road became impeded with wagons and 
wounded men, and it became necessary for him to take to the 
fields to advance with speed. After a while he returned to 
the road again and found both sides lined with uninjured 
men, who, having gone far enough to the rear to be out of 
danger, had quietly settled down to rest, and were prepar- 
ing their coffee and taking the breakfast that the enemy's 
attack at daylight had delayed. 

On he passed through Newtown at a point about eight 
miles south of Winchester, wdiere he came upon the first or- 
ganized troops he had met, and Captain McKinley was 
doing his best to rally them. In fact, he had already suc- 
ceeded. General Henry E. Davies, who served in the cav- 
alry corps in the army of the Potomac under Sheridan, said 
in his excellent biography of the gallant commander that 
the enemy had just been driven back with heavy loss, and 
for a time desisted from further aggressive movement, be- 
fore Sheridan came upon the field. 

To return for a moment to the events at Cedar Creek; 
while Sheridan was at Winchester, the movements of the 
Confederates from Fisher's Hill, against the forces drawn 
up on the north bank of the Cedar Creek, began in the 
night. It was supposed that any Confederate attack 
would take place on the right of the Union line, because 
df the strong position on the high bank of the river held 
by Crook on the left. Accordingly, the right of the line 
had been strongly reinforced at the expense of the left. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. H9 

General Early being aware of this, under cover of the dark- 
ness, gained a position on the rear of the left of General 
Crook's troops, where the unsuspecting Ohio boys were. 

At 5 o'clock in the morning, while many of the Union 
men were asleep in their blankets, the Confederate firing was 
opened on their left and rear, and, taken by surprise, they 
were swept back in more or less confusion upon the other 
troops. General Wright, as soon as the engagement 
opened, did the best he could, and a good, strong, defensive 
position was taken with reinforced lines about four or five 
miles north of the Union camp. Then, as General Davies 
says in his biography of Sheridan : 

" An attack was at once made upon these lines, but the 
Confederate forces had been somewhat broken by previous 
engagements, the hasty pursuit and the loss of many men 
who had remained to plunder the Confederate camp, and 
though our troops suffered severely, the enemy was driven 
back with heavy loss, and for the time desisted from further 
aggressive movement. Shortly after this repulse of the 
enemy, General Sheridan came on the field, and the further 
events of the day and the signal victory with which it 
closed have already been described." 

Captain MeKinley, with the other officers, had been 
working earnestly during the whole engagement to keep 
the men in line, and to establish a position. He had just 
returned from planting the battery, by direction of General 
Crook, of Colonel Dupont of the Fifth U. S. Artillery, a 
part of Colonel Crook's corps. It was then that Sheridan 
rode up to him. 

" "Where's Crook ? " said Sheridan. Captain MeKin- 
ley turned, and they galloped off to find the general. 



120 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

" down the line 'mid a storm of huzzahs, 

And the wave of retreat checked its course then, because 

The sight of the master compelled it to pause. 

With foam and with dust the black charger was gray; 

By the hash of his eye and his nostrils' play 

He seemed to the whole great army to say, 

' I have brought you Sheridan all the way 

From Winchester down to save the day.' " 

" What troops are those?" shouted Sheridan, as they 
dashed along the line. 

" The Sixth Corps," was the response from a hundred 
voices. " Never mind, boys, we'll whip them yet. We'll 
whip them yet. We shall sleep in our quarters to-night," 
were the encouraging words of the chief as he rode along 
while the men threw their hats high in the air, leaping and 
dancing and cheering in their wild joy. 

As Genera] Sheridan rode to the front of the line, ac- 
companied by Captain McKinlcy, he was received with 
cheers, and it was at once evident that the courage and en- 
thusiasm of the troops had returned. Cheers broke out 
from the Ohio regiments, regimental flags appeared, head- 
quarters were immediately established, and Generals Wright 
and Crook, now met, briefly described to Sheridan the 
events of the morning. Orders were immediately issued. 
Crook was directed to hold what forces he had on the left 
and to collect and organize his men, a work in which McKin- 
ley took an active part. The returning stragglers were 
brought into line with all the rapidity with which, earlier in 
the day, they had gone to the rear. The whole current of 
movement was changed. The leadership of a great general 
was till, and the Union forces became eager for the attack. 






LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 121 

"When Sheridan returned to the line, after consultine- 
with his officers, it was suggested that he take off his great 
coat, which was covered with dust and perspiration, and ride 
down the line. Captain McKinley helped him to remove 

the coat, and it was discovered that Sheridan wore a bright 
new uniform, which he had just obtained on his trip to Wash- 
ington. McKinley has frequently been heard to say that 
Sheridan never looked more a soldier than at that moment. 

The restoration of the Union line had not passed un- 
noticed by General Early, who had already become some- 
what alarmed. Many of his troops were engaged in enjoy- 
ing the luxuries of the Union camp. Early got them 
together as well as he could and prepared for an assault, 
which he made upon the Nineteenth corps, hut there was 
now no difficulty in repulsing attacks. Shortly afterward 
an advance of the Union army was ordered, and although 
the enemy had improved an opportunity to establish lines 
behind stone walls and make other defensive preparations, 
he was unable to successfully resist this assault of Sheridan's 
army, now fully inspired with his presence. All of General 
Early's forces were at once swept away without being able 
to resist our attacking lines at any point. The Confederates 
were driven from the field in one of the greatest routs since 
the beginning of the war. Xo attempt was made to check the 
pursuit or to save any property, and many guns, wagons, 
and prisoners were abandoned. This was a great victory, 
snatched from what appeared to have been a great defeat. 

General Sheridan withdrew his corps to Kernstown, 
where more supplies could be obtained and where fortified 
lines were constructed. 

A short time after this a successful cavalry raid bv the 



1-22 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

enemy od the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, at New Creek 
in West Virginia, had caused the departure of General 
Crook with one of his divisions to that place. General 
Crook admired the pluck and fighting qualities of the 
young officer from Ohio, and took Captain McKinley 
with him. There Crook and Kelley were captured, and 
Hancock took charge of the department. He retained Cap- 
tain McKinley on his staff, and the young officer remained 
with him until assigned as acting assistant adjutant-general 
on the staff of Samuel S. Carroll, commanding the veteran 
Reserve Corps at Washington. McKinley remained there 
for some time, was there when General Lee surrendered 
to Grant at the famous apple-tree at Appomattox in April, 
1865, and was also there at the exciting period when Pres- 
ident Lincoln was shot by Booth in Ford's Theatre. It was 
just one month and a day before this sad event that he re- 
ceived a document which is one of his cherished possessions, 
his commission as brevet major of the U. S. Volunteers. 

" For gallant and meritorious services at the battles of 
Opequan, Cedar Creek, and Fisher's Hill." 

And it is signed, " A. Lincoln." 

While the army was proceeding northward on the 8th 
of November, 18 04, their votes were cast in the presidential 
election at which Lincoln and Johnson were elected. It 
is said that the votes were collected by the judges of the 
election as the column was on the march. This was McKin- 
ley's first vote. An ambulance served as an election booth, 
an empty candle-box did duty as a receptacle for ballots. 
At the same time Generals Crook, Sheridan, and Hayes 
casl their ballots, and it is said that at this time Sheridan 
and Crook also cast their first votes. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 125 

On July 2<>, 18(35, Major McKinley was mustered oul 
of the service;, and bis fighting days in the army were over. 
From the very beginning, as bis career in the war show-, 
lie had shown himself to be made; of superior stuff. 
Whether in camp or in the held, he was always devoted to 
the highest duty of the hour. So young in years, and start- 
ing out as an inconspicuous private in the ranks, without in- 
fluence, he was compelled to rely upon his own merits, and 
they counted. 

It is said of Hayes, whose days of fighting closed at 
about the same time, that be was under fire about one hun- 
dred days in the course of those four years, and that from the 
beginning of May until the end of October, 1864, he*was 
under fire sixty days. As McKinley was with Hayes most 
of the time, and besides was in the battle of Antietam, 
which was not participated in by Hayes on account of a 
wound received at South Mountain, it is evident that 
McKinley must have been under fire even more than this. 
South Mountain, Antietam, Cloyd's Mountain, Kernstown, 
Berryville, Opequan, Fisher's Hi]], and Cedar Creek were 
some of the severest fought battles of the war. When it is 
remembered that McKinley many times exposed himself 
bravely to danger, and that once when lie rescued the regi- 
ment at Kernstown he galloped into the very jaws of death, 
it is clear that a good fortune followed him and saved him 
for the brilliant career in civil life which he has made. 



CHAPTEE XL 

home again — Mckinley enters civil life, and 
becomes a leading lawyer. 

Advised by General Carroll to Continue his Military Career — 
A Strong Temptation — Finally Concludes to Study Law — 
Long Hours over his Law Books — Going to Youngstown to 
Recite — Anxious to Support Himself — His Sister's Sacrifice 

— Admitted to the Bar ai Canton in 1SG7 — His first Law Case 
-Twenty-five Dollars, Too Much — Partnership with Judge 
Belden — His Reputation as a Lawyer Quickly Made — 
Thoroughness in Preparing Cases and his Success with Juries 

— Legal Contest with John McSweeney — The Bowlegged Man 
who lost his Case for Damages — McKinley goes into Politics 

— Placed on the List of Stump Speakers by the Republican 
State Committee — The Name Never Taken off. 

TIIK gallanl young major, on his return to Poland, 
was a great favorite witli the people, young and 
did, from whose society lie had gone four years 
before, and the pride of his father and mother, whose 
patriotism ran in the blood, and who rejoiced that they 
had yielded t<> the persuasive pleadings of William four 
years before, and allowed him to become a volunteer. Tt 
tools a greal load from the heart of a mother in 1865, when 
her son came home safe ami sound; her pride was justifiable, 
when he came home with well earned honors. While serv- 
ing on the staff of General Carroll, McKinley had many 

(126) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 127 

long talks with that officer, who, like other men thrown 
into the young man's company, was strongly attracted by 
his admirable qualities of mind and heart. Genera) 
Carroll advised him to continue in the military career. 
The temptation was undoubtedly great. Peace was now 
restored; a military career offered, especially to a young 
officer, all the advantages and none of the drawbacks 
in such a calling. As a major in the army, whose further 
promotion was possible, and even probable, Ins position 
would at once lie secure. 

lie knew also that when he returned to Poland and en- 
tered upon civil life, with no occupation, no trade, no profes- 
sion, and no place in the busy activities of the country, ex- 
cept such as he could make for himself, another long, 
and perhaps less successful, struggle was before him. 
Pesides, he knew that he would return to Poland practically 
as pooi' as he left it, and would immediately he thrown upon 
his own resources. 

McKinlev, during his career in the war, had opportuni- 
ties, which some had not neglected to improve, of making 
money in the positions he held in the regiment. His 
position, first as commissary-sergeant, and afterwards 
as quartermaster, afforded him such opportunities. But 
his honesty and probity were natural and inherited, and 
were unshaken by any such temptation. The story 
is told that when quartermaster of his regiment, after 
the retreat from Lynchburg, it was necessary to destroy 
much of the property in store to prevent its falling into 
the hands of the rebels. In a confidential talk with one of 
his friends at that time. McKinlev said: 

"This is whore the quartermasters niiirht make their 



^28 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

money, but I don't want a dollar of Uncle Sam's that doesn't 
belong to me." 

McKinley was one of those and it is just to say that 

they were in the majority — who always made honest re- 
turns in his accounts of the property under his care. 

When he returned to Poland, he was undoubtedly af- 
fected by the advice of General ( larroll as to the advantages 
of a military career. If is said that such a proposition met 
the opposition of his father. However this may be, it is cer- 
tain that the attractions of an army life, which in times of 
peace would probably he one of more indolence and lux- 
ury than of active work, were overcome by his desire to 
enter the legal profession. His old appetite for study re- 
turned, and circumstances were such that he could begin 
the reading of law with a man who was highly esteemed 
for his high character, eloquent address, and magnifi- 
cent presence — Judge Charles E. Glidden, whose office 
was in Youngstown, and whose partner was David M. 
Wilson. 

Once this decision was made, he entered into the reading 
of elementary law treatises with all the earnestness that 
characterized his schoolboy days, and became again an ex- 
cessive burner of midnight oil. Once or twice a week he 
would go lo Youngstown to recite to Judge Glidden or his 
partner. A diligent student, engaged early and late with 
his hooks il was not possible for Major McKinley to enter 
much into the social life of Poland, but he did to a certain 
extent, and many Poland people cherish to-day the memory 
of those days when he was with them. Having won such 
high rank in the war, he was looked upon as a man of mark, 
and sure of a bright future. He was known also as a good 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 129 

speaker, and it was a great local occasion when he de- 
livered the oration at the dedication of the Soldiers' Mon- 
ument in his old home. 

Thus the time passed for about a year, and then, it is 
said, it became a question with McKinley whether he should 
pursue his course of law studies at once to completion, know- 
ing that it would take several years without yielding any 
substantial financial returns, or enter meanwhile upon some 
business career. His sister Annie, who had been hi- 
guiding angel, and whose advice he had taken upon many 
occasions, had gone to Canton as a school teacher, and now 
came to his rescue again, like the faithful and self-sacrific- 
ing sister she always was, and said that she and the others 
in the family should make every sacrifice possible to enable 
William to pursue his studies. Thus it was that McKinley 
went to Albany, to enter the Ohio Law School, which at 
that time was considered one of the leading schools in the 
country. There he spent a season of absolute devotion to 
his studies, and was able to complete his course, and to gain 
admittance to the bar in 1867, two years after his return 
from the war. Doubtless his sister Annie again influenced 
his course, for he went to ( !anton, Ohio, bidding adieu to his 
old friends and comrades in Poland, and the briefless law- 
yer, engaging a small office in the rear of an old building, 
situated where the fine Stark county court house now stands, 
sat down, waited for clients, and studied. 

Occupying a well-equipped office on the front of the 
same building was Judge Belden, then one of the most 
prominent advocates in Stark county. He had been a circuit 
judge, and was a man of influence and of strong social 
position. He was attracted by the personality of the young 



130 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

lawyer. The record lie had made in the war had at- 
tracted the attention of the people throughout that region, 
some of the more prominent people of Canton among 
them. Belden thought McKinley was a man who deserved 
assistance. The latter was not seeking any, however. But 
one day the judge came into McKinley's little office, com- 
plaining of feeling very poorly, and of wishing to go home, 
and said: 

" Mack, here are the papers in a case coming up to-mor- 
row. Now, 1 want you to try it — I shall not be able to at- 
tend to it." 

It was a replevin case of appeal. Before that, MeKin- 
ley had absolutely no practice whatever, unless it might 
have been a case or two of little or no consequence in the 
justice's court. The papers in the case were quite exten- 
sive; moreover, it was a very doubtful case. Indeed, Judge 
Belden had very little hope of it. 

" Why, I can't try that case, Judge; it's all new to me; 
I have no chance to prepare it ; and you know I've never tried 
a case yet." 

" "Well, begin on this one, then," replied the judge; and 
finally McKinley agreed to do so, nothing being said, how- 
ever, as to cost of services. Tie went to his little office and 
sat up all night, going through every detail of the case. The 
next day he went into court and won it. 

Not long afterwards. Judge Belden saw McKinley, and 
said : 

" Well, Mack, so yon won the case," and putting his 
hand in hi- pocket, he took out twenty-five dollars. 

" Oh, I can't take that," said McKinley; " it's too much 
for one day's work." 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 131 

"Don't worry about that," said the judge, in a good- 
natured way. " I got a hundred dollars as a retainer." 

From that moment, Judge Belden and his friends knew 
that Major McKinley was a man worth cultivating, and very 
soon the judge made him a partner. He moved out of 

the little office where he had spent his briefless days, and 
continued his practice with Judge Belden with increas- 
ing success until the latter died in 1870. 

McKinley at once won a reputation as a shrewd man at 
the bar, and a successful pleader. He took no particular 
fancy to any one branch of his profession, hut in those days 
most of his experience was in the civil courts. In one case, 
not long after entering into partnership with Judge Belden, 
he found himself pitted against John McSweeney, who was 
considered one of the most brilliant lawyers of the Ohio 
bar. The case was a suit for damages for malpractice, the 
complainant charging that a surgeon had set his broken leg 
in such a way as to make him howlegged. McKinley ap- 
peared for the surgeon. McSweeney brought his client into 
court, put him on the stand, had his broken leg bared, and 
it was held up conspicuously in evidence. A bad looking 
leg in shape it certainly was. Things looked seripus for the 
surgeon, and for McKinley' s case. But meanwhile Mc- 
Kinley had his keen eyes fixed on the other leg, and when 
the witness was turned over to him for cross-examination, 
he demanded that this, too, be bared. McSweeney made 
an objection, but the court overruled it. Much to Mc- 
Sweeny's confusion, the merriment of the jurors, and the 
collapse of the complainant's case, the other leg was more 
bowed than the one set by the surgeon. His trousers had 
been rather skillfull v used to conceal it. 



132 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

" My client seems to have done better for this man than 
did nature herself," said McKinley, "and I move that the 
suit be dismissed with a recommendation to have his right 
leg broken and set by my client, the surgeon/' 

From his boyhood, McKinley had been interested in 
national politics and closely followed the current of events. 
He was heard in public discussion at the very beginning of 
his legal career. In 1867 Ohio voted upon the adoption of 
the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitu- 
tion, giving to the colored man the right of suffrage. 

' The first political speech I ever made," said Governor 
McKinley to a visitor one day, " was in favor of that amend- 
ment. It was delivered at the village of Xew Berlin, and I 
afterwards made it all through Stark county." 

Pausing a moment, his face brightening, he continued: 

" I really wish I could read that speech. I can see it 
now, all written out. I never prepared a speech with 
greater care in all my life." 

This maiden speech was delivered from the veranda of 
the residence of Michael Bitzer, a Pennsylvania German and 
staunch Republican, who yet points with pride to the spot 
where McKinley stood. 

Stark county was Democratic, even in those days di- 
rectly after the war. The nomination for prosecuting at- 
torney tor the county was usually regarded as an empty 
honor, and some have urged that the nomination was given 
to the young attorney in 1869 simply as such, with no ex- 
pectation that he would win. It would, however, bring 
him into further prominence. But it is also true that Mc- 
Kinley, even in a short time, had become very popular, 
not only in Canton, hut in the county around. Whether 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. I33 

the Republicans had any expectation that McKinley would 
win or not, the Democrats certainly had none. Their can- 
didate was \V. A. Lynch, who already held the position, and 
felt perfectly sure of it. McKinley at once took the stump, 

and entered into the campaign with all that vim and ability 
which has made him one of the greatest campaigners of 
this generation; and to the surprise of his Republican 
friends, and the astonishment and chagrin of the Dem- 
ocrats, he was elected. 

Thus the young man who had returned from the war, 
undecided as to his future and with no profession, had with- 
in four years won a position which was regarded as a prize 1 
by the younger attorneys. Serving as prosecuting attorney 
of Stark county for two years, he was renominated; hut this 
time the Democrats, who were still largely in the majority 
in the county, were alert, fighting for their candidate with 
all the power they possessed, yet it was only by the narrow 
majority of forty-live that McKinley was defeated. 

An interesting story is told of the manner in which Wil- 
liam McKinley and Mark A. ITanna of Cleveland, who has 
recently attracted much attention by his successful man- 
agement of McKinley's interests in the campaign for presi- 
dential nomination, became acquainted. It was about four 
years after McKinley settled in Canton, and after his sec- 
ond and unsuccessful campaign for election as prosecuting 
attorney. Mr. Hanna's large company was the owner of 
extensive mines in Stark county, and, owing to some dis- 
agreement, there was trouble with the miners, who com- 
mitted several deeds of violence, and finally set fire to the 
property. Twenty-three of them were arrested as princi- 
pals in the act, and their friends secured Major McKinley to 



134 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

defend them. He entered into their cause with his usual 
earnestness, pleaded their case with skill, and with one excep- 
tion they were acquitted. Hanna's attention was attracted 
to tin' ability of the young attorney, and a friendship was 
formed which has continued to this day. Mr. Ilanna, in 
his good-natured way, says the one man whom McKinley 
failed to get acquitted was the only innocent man in the 
lot, if there was one. 

Canton. ;it that time, was a place of not more than five 
or six thousand inhabitants, a nourishing little village, as 
villages went in Ohio directly after the war, hut it grew 
very rapidly. It was settled hugely by the Pennsylvania 
Dutch, ami by Germans from the old country. Many in- 
dustries were established there, much of their prosperity 
being due to the protective tariff; and the constant evi- 
dences of this, of course, only strengthened the convictions 
which McKinley already had upon this question. Becom- 
ing a railroad center, and the center of Stark county, rich 
in nil industrious agricultural population, Canton was an 
excellence place of residence for 1 he rising young lawyer of 

Ohio. 

Very soon, McKinley had a lucrative practice. As a 
pleader before juries, he was recognized as one who had 
few superiors in those parts. Hi- clients were impressed 
with the thoroughness with which he prepared his cases, 
and with hi- quickness to seize ;i point of vital importance 
in the trial of eases. Bui while his practice had become a 
paying one, the expansion of his business required a growing 
outlay, lie was also scrupulously prompt in meeting obli- 
gations which he had incurred in starting upon his legal 
career. From the time of his first campaign for election as 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 1^5 

prosecuting attorney, he had been active in politics, and he 
book the stump for his party upon every occasion, soon mak- 
ing himself a power among the people of that section. 

The same year that McKinley was conducting his first 
campaign in Stark county for prosecuting attorney, Gen- 
eral Rutherford 15. Haves was the Republican candidate 
for governor, having served two terms in ( longress. It. was 
in the height of the greenback craze, the Democratic plat- 
form declaring that the whole bonded debt should be paid in 
greenbacks, and favoring- about every device then existing 
inimical to the cause of sound money. 

Ohio people were affected by the craze, and political lead- 
ers knew not where they stood. Speakers on the stump 
hardly dared to deal unequivocally with the question. It 
so happened that Stewart L. Woodford of Xow York, one 
of the best campaign speakers of his day, was sent out to 
Ohio, and he came out bravely and squarely for sound money 
and against the greenback craze without any qualification, 
and with good effect. He addressed a large meeting at 
Canton, and McKinley made a little speech at the (dose of 
the evening. When Woodford got to Columbus, and was 
telling the State Central committee about his tour, he said: 

"By the way, there is a young fellow up there in Can- 
ton who is one of the coming men — you ought to put him 
on the stump." 

"Who is he ?" was asked. 

" His name is McKinley." 

The State Central committee had heard a little of Mc- 
Kinley before, but they immediately, on Woodford's advice, 
put him on their list of speakers — and he has never been 
off the list since. 



CHAPTER XII. 

HIS MARRIAGE — THE FIRST AND ONLY ROMANCE OP 
McKINLEY'S LIFE. 

Ida Saxton and her Family — Her Grandfather a Newspaper Man, 
and an Editor for Sixty Years — Her Father a Banker, Capi- 
talist, and Leading Man of Affairs — His Practical Ideas of 
the Training of Women — Three Years his Assistant in the 
Bank — Her Beauty and Attractive Qualities — Trip Abroad — 
Return and Social Life — The Belle of the Town — Young 
Lawyer McKinley Distances his Rivals — Jnst the Man 
Father Saxton Wanted — Their Marriage — Early Home Life 
— Death of their Two Children — Her Health fails — Removal 
to her Old Home — William McKinley's Devotion — Reluctant 
to Enter Politics — Mrs. McKinley Urges him to do so — Be- 
lieved it was lus Duty, and that it was Ids Future — Accepts 
Further Political Honors — Becomes a Congressional Candi- 
date. 

WI I K\ .McKinley was fighting for the Union, there 
was a young lady in ( Vinton, Miss Ida Saxton, of 
handsome features, lively and attractive 1 disposi- 
tion, and of excellent family, who was pursuing her studies, 
and devoting sonic of her leisure time to such benevolent 
work as scraping lint and making bandages to be sent to the 
fronl for wounded soldiers. She was bora and bred in Can- 
ton. Tier grandfather, John Saxton, founded the Canton 
Repository, in March, 1 81 •">, a paper that has had an uninter- 
rupted and successful existence, and whose proprietor can 

(136) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 137 

point to the files of his paper in which are printed the pro- 
clamations of Napoleon, — not of the same date to be sure, 
hut after only a brief interval, considering the means of 
communication eighty years ago, and remoteness at that time 
of Canton. Waterloo was fought in June, and an exceed- 
ingly interesting and faithful account was given to the Ohio 
readers of Mr. Saxton's paper in September. For sixty 
years Mr. Saxton occupied the editorial chair, and was still 
at his post in 1870, to publish the account of the fall of Na- 
poleon III. 

His son, James A. Saxton, the father of Ida Saxton, be- 
came a banker and a capitalist, and was prominent in local 
affairs. His wife, like himself, belonged to a family which 
had been among the earliest settlers in Canton. Ida Sax- 
ton was born in June, 1847, and as she grew up under for- 
tunate circumstances, she early developed qualities which 
won the admiration of sensible people, made her one of the 
belles of the town, and later, one of the most devoted of 
wives. From her mother she inherited a brightness and 
cheerfulness of disposition, which has aided in making her 
life, though not without its severe sufferings, one of con- 
tented happiness and usefulness. From her father, she in- 
herited a practical ability and knowledge of business, and 
from both parents strength of character. 

Her father was a man of very practical beliefs. He se- 
cured for his daughter an excellent education, as complete 
and effective as he could make it in the local schools, and 
afterwards at a seminary in Media, Pa., from which she 
graduated at the age of sixteen. Her mother, a woman of 
cultivation and sound good sense, also took great pains with 
her daughter's education. 



138 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Even at this time, she was very seriously threatened 
with ill-health, and her ambition often carried her further 
than her physical strength warranted. Though with pros- 
pects of inheriting a fortune, her father had ideas concern- 
ing the practical experience of young women, which may 
have been considered strange at that time, but are recognized 
as practical to-day. lie believed in providing for a woman 
the advantages of an ample and practical business training 
and experience. So he took his daughter into the employ of 
the bank with which he was connected, and for three years 
she held the position of assistant to him — and she was a 
good one, too. Father Saxton also may have been influenced 
by another consideration. He believed that women should 
make their position independent, and besides, he was so pas- 
sionately fond of his daughter, who was the brightness of 
his home, that he did not relish the thought of her mar- 
riage. He thought that, with a practical business training, 
his daughter would not be easily led away into making an ill- 
advised match; and whether she stood in any danger of such 
a thing or not, she certainly developed in her father's bank 
all the qualities of a thorough and practical woman of expe- 
rience, and she has never ceased to be grateful for this 
training. As she grew older, she developed into a charm- 
ing young lady with bright, handsome features, and it is not 
at all improbable that her pretty face at the window made 
her father's bank attractive to the young gentlemen who 
had checks to cash. 

After three years' experience in the bank, she went 
abroad with her sister and a party of friends, chaperoned by 
one of her former teachers, for a six months tour of England 
and the continent. On her return, she really began her 






1 

m 
m 

§ 



m 

<><■>■ t- 



1 * ( 




MRS. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 
(From her latest photograph.) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 141 

social career in Canton. William McKinley had just been 
elected prosecuting attorney of Stark county. Miss 
Saxton had a host of admirers, attracted by her beauty, 
brightness, and amiable qualities; but William McKinley, 
while not so devoted to the round of social events as other 
young men of his age, never having overcome his studious 
habits, stepped in ahead of his rivals, and won the " belle 
of the town." 

It is a romantic and beautiful little story that is told of 
their courtship, characteristic of the seriousness and thorough 
ingenuousness of both. She was teacher of a large Bible 
class in the First Presbyterian church, and he was superin- 
tendent of the Sunday-school of the First Methodist Episco- 
pal church. In going to their respective schools, they 
passed each other at a certain corner, and found it pleasant 
to stop occasionally and indulge in conversation concerning 
their work. This went on for many months, until, on an 
ever-memorable Sunday afternoon in their history, he said 
to her: 

" I don't like this separation every Sunday, you going 
one way and I another. Let us change the order. Sup- 
pose after this we always go the same way. I think that is 
the thing for ns to do. What do you think ? " 

" I think so too," was her answer. 

More than this, he was just the man Father Saxton 
wanted, and he is reported as having said to McKinley: 
''' You are the only man I have ever known to whom I would 
entrust my daughter." 

So it was that William McKinley and Ida Saxton were 
married in the old Presbyterian church, January 25, 1871, 
Dr. Buckingham, pastor of the church, and Dr. Endslcy of 



1-12 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

the Methodist church, officiating on the occasion. The wed- 
ding was a notable one, and the first marriage ceremony that 
took place in the church. William McKinley, as we have 
seen, had been brought up a Methodist, and for some years 
had been a member of a Methodist denomination. His 
wife gave her first exhibition of faith in her husband when 
she became a communicant of the Methodist church, and of 
that church in Canton they are still members. 

* For a while after their marriage, Major and Mrs. Mc- 
Kinley boarded. But finding this mode of life unsatisfac- 
tory, they began housekeeping in a street near the old home, 
a cozy and pretty house, that has since become historic, and 
which is their home to-day. Here on Christmas day, 1871, 
their first child, a daughter, was born. She lived to lie only 
three years of age. A second child, also a daughter, died in 
infancy. Just before the birth of the second child, Mrs. 
McKinley was called upon to face the first great sorrow of 
her life in the death of her mother. Although delicate from 
childhood, Mrs. McKinley's actual invalidism dates from 
this combination of sorrows — within a few months she lost 
her two children and her mother, and she drew still closer 
to her devoted husband. 

It was deemed advisable that they should leave their own 
home, and remove to the old Saxton homestead, where she 
might have constant care, and be at the same time 
a companion to her father. This house was a large, 
three-story brick dwelling, surrounded by broad porch s. and 
fitted up with all that wealth could bestow, but with no dis- 
play or ostentation. Tt has become one of the historic houses 
of the place, for it was here, only a few weeks before Oen- 
eral Garfield's election to tin 1 presidency, that Major McKin- 



life of willia.m Mckinley. 143 

ley entertained, on the occasion of a soldiers' and sailors' re- 
union, all of President Eayes's family, Governor Foster, 
Genera] Crook, and General and Airs. Garfield. In spite 
of her invalidism, Mrs. McKinley, on the occasions when she 
acted as hostess, was found to be one of the most charming. 

Devoted as Major McKinley was to his young wife in 
her failing health, he looked for any opportunity to make any 
sacrifice for her comfort, or for the restoration of her 
strength. A quiet home life seemed to he a necessity, hut 
Mrs. McKinley was proud of her young husband, proud of 
his war record, and of the brilliant reputation he had made 
at the bar. She believed in him thoroughly. 

But he feared a political life might deprive him of his 
wife's company, and her of his care, to a large extent, and 
that, with her disposition, she would make his political con- 
test her own, perhaps to the continued impairment of her 
health. When further honors were offered to him, there- 
fore, McKinley was reluctant to accept them, hut Airs. Mc- 
Kinley did everything in her power to overcome this reluc- 
tance, lie believed in her as she believed in him, and she 
was able to convince him of his duty, believing that his 
talents and integrity would he of the greatest value to the 
people. From the beginning of his Congressional career 
to the present time, she has encouraged him by her faith, 
and aided him by her practical advice and assistance. 

" She is such a devoted wife," laughed a friend recently, 
in speaking of her, "such a model wife, believing so com- 
pletely that what her husband does is right, and encourag- 
ing him in so doing, that T am perfectly convinced that if 
the major were to enunciate a doctrine of free trade, Mrs. 
McKinley would be his first convert." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

A CONGRESSMAN AT THIRTY-FOUR — RECOGNITION 
QUICKLY WON. 

McKinley the Man who was wanted for Congress — " Old 
Stagers" do not Consider him a Possibdity — He goes 
into the Campaign for Nomination and Wins in every Comity 
—Nominated on the First Ballot and Elected— Astonishment in 
Venerable Circles — Entered Congress at an Important Period 

— Settlement of Reconstruction Questions — McKinley put at 
the Bottom of a Poor Committee— Attracted Attention when he 
Spoke — What Blaine Said of him — His First Tariff Speech — 
Attack on the Wood Bill that Opened the Eyes of his Colleagues 

— His Thorough Knowledge of the Subject Displayed — Mc- 
Kinley Still a Quiet. Studious Man — His time Mostly Spent at 
his Rooms with Mrs. McKinley and his Books. 

BY liis industry and success in the practice of law, and 
by his engaging personality, McKinley had, by 
187'6, won the political support of some of the most 
influential men in Stark county. As one of them said to 
the writer recently, " We liked him. He was always can- 
did, and we never had to apologize for him. We thought 
he was just the man to send to Congress." He had never 
had any legislative experience, and his wife's illness had 
made him indifferent to further political honors, even re- 
luctant to rim the risk, as we have said, hut when he de- 
cided to stand for Congress, his friends went to work in 
earnest. 

(144) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 145 

While, however, he was considered by some of his ad- 
miring friends at Canton as just the man for Congress, 
some of the old Republican leaders in his district took very 
little notice of his candidacy at first. L. D. Woodworth 
of Mahoning, Judge Frease of Canton, and several other Re- 
publicans, three of whom were from his own county, went 
into the contest for the nomination with very little expecta- 
tion that Mclvinley would cut any figure. The delegates 
to the congressional convention in Stark county were.elected 
by public vote. The young lawyer entered into his canvass 
with that same earnestness and thoroughness which had char- 
acterized his canvass for the position of prosecuting attorney, 
and carried every township in the county but one, and that 
had but a single delegate. In the other counties, he proved 
to be almost as successful. 

His primaries gave him a majority of the delegates in the 
district, and he was nominated on the first ballot over all 
other candidates. The old stagers were as astonished at, 
the results as were the Austrian marshals when the young 
Napoleon dropped his army upon them on the plains of Italy 
from the summit of the Alps. But they were not long dis- 
pleased. Their own political chances had vanished, but 
they knew McKinley had come to stay in the politics of the 
district, that he was a man who could be trusted and 
would make a name for himself. Politicians who become ac- 
customed to thinking that political honors belong to older 
men entirely, are apt to be disagreeably surprised sometimes, 
and abundantly satisfied afterwards. 

Jefferson was writing pamphlets on liberty at thirty, 
and penned the Declaration of Independence at thirty-three; 
Madison entered Congress at twenty-nine, Webster at 



14G LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

thirty-one, Blaine at thirty-two, and Clay was a senator at 
twenty-nine. In the Congress which McKinley entered at 
thirty-four, Thomas 15. Reed began his career at thirty-eight. 

The Forty-fifth was in many respects a notable Congress. 
For the first time in fifteen years the Democrats obtained 
control of the Lower branch with the Forty-fourth Congress. 
They maintained it in the Forty-fifth, electing Samuel J. 
Randall speaker by 149 votes, to 132 lor James A. Garfield. 
It was called in special session in October, and McKinley 
began his career as a committeeman at the foot of the Laws 
Revision committee, one of the poorest in the House. But 
he entered into his new work with characteristic earnest- 
ness, and with the purpose to do his full duty, though a 
new member upon an unimportant committee is expected 
to have very little to do, and to do less. 

It was an important period to enter upon a congressional 
career, and one calculated to develop just that line of thought 
upon economic matters that McKinley had been pursuing. 
While the country had been engaged in settling the great 
questions growing out of the war, McKinley bad become 
more and inure interested in economic matters, which up to 
thai time had barely affected Congress. When he took his 
seat, therefore, a new epoch was really beginning, and the 
subjects of the tariff and finance were attracting attention 
both because of their novelty and their pressing importance. 

The Greenback party had just started in 1874, and had 
placed Peter Cooper, a well-known philanthropist of Xew 
York, in nomination for the presidency in L876. The 
whole West, as we have said, was more or less affected by 
the craze, the Republicans no less than the Democrats, and 
3afe, conservative men were ;il a premium. 'The free coin- 



LIFE OP WILLIAM McKINLBY. 147 

age of silver seemed to a great many of both parties in 

the West in those days the only safe way to head off the 
craze for the unlimited issue of greenbacks by the govern- 
ment. At that time the depreciation of silver was slight, 
and very little of silver had been coined for years. A bill, 
therefore, for the free coinage of silver was introduced into 
the House by Mr. Bland of .Missouri within a month after 
Congress met, and was soon passed by that body by an over- 
whelming majority. 

AleKinley as a new member did not rush indiscreetly 
into the wordy battles which regularly occurred. He was 
a good listener, weighing the strength of his antagonists, 
and the force of their opinions, and speaking only when 
he thought his opportunity had come to make himself felt. 
lie soon came to be regarded as one of the men who, when 
he spoke, had something to say, and when he had said it, 
stopped. Gradually members on both sides of the House, 
as they came to know him, began to consult him, and to con- 
sider his judgment valuable. He was regarded as one of 
the best speakers which that Congress developed. Very 
quickly lie attracted the attention of James G. Blaine, and 
when the October elections were held in Maine, Mr. Blaine 
asked McKinley to participate in a stumping tour through 
that State. Blaine's attention had first been attracted to 
McKinley by a speech he had made at a Union League re- 
ception to the Maine statesman, in Philadelphia during the 
ITayes campaign. McKinley spoke from a platform erected 
in front of the club house on Broad street, to an immense 
multitude of people, the largest, probably, he had ever 
addressed. 

The tariff question, as an issue in the polities of this gen- 



148 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

nation, really had its beginning in the Forty-fifth Congress, 
which had been in session but a few months when Fernando 
"Wood of Xew York introduced his bill " to reduce taxation, 
and for other purposes." A few days later McKinley made 
his first tariff speech in the House, and. established his rep- 
utation as one of the best posted men on the subject in that 
body at that time. In his book, Twenty years in Con- 
gress, reviewing the Forty-fifth, James G. Blaine said, 
" William McKinley, Jr., entered from the Canton dis- 
trict. He enlisted in an Ohio regiment when but 
seventeen years old, and soon won the rank of major by 
meritorious services. The interests of his constituency ami 
his own bent of mind led him to the study of industrial 
questions and he was soon recognised in the House as one 
of the most thorough statisticians and one of the ablest de- 
fenders of the doctrine of protection." 

A perusal of the Congressional Record of that Congress, 
containing the debates upon the Wood Bill, will reveal the 
fact that no more direct and convincing speech was made 
against it. He announced his opposition to such tariff re- 
form measures by saying: 

'This bill imt (inly impairs the revenues of the gov- 
ernment, but it is a blow well directed at the mining, the 
manufacturing, and the industrial classes of this country. 
Tt will not be denied that any material readjustment of the 
tariff system at this time is a hazardous undertaking, and 
should be approached, if at all, with great can 1 and circum- 
spection, with a thorough knowledge of the business and 
commerce of the country, their needs and relations which 
it proposes to affect. This consideration should be unen- 
cumbered by individual or sectional interests, and should 







LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 149 

be free from any attempt or desire to promote the interests 
<>l one class at the expense of the many. The highest good 
to the greatest number should guide any legislation which 
may be had. I believe if this rule should be adopted, the 
proposed measure would find little favor in this House. I 
do not doubt that free trade, or its ' next of kin/ tariff re- 
form, might be of temporary advantage to a very limited 
class of our population, and would be hailed with delight 
by the home importer and the foreign manufacturer; but 
no one, I predict, who has thoughtfully considered the sub- 
ject, and its effects upon our present state and condition, 
can fail to discern that free trade, or tariff reform, intro- 
duced into this country now, would produce still further 
business depression and increased commercial paralyza- 
tion." 

Speaking then for a time as to the effect upon business 
of ill-considered changes in the tariff, he added, " There is 
no national demand, I assert, for the passage of this bill; 
no popular appeal is pressing for its enactment; no public 
necessity requires such legislation; no interest is suffering 
for want of it. There is no plethora in the revenues, or 
overflow of the treasury, justifying it. Neither the pro- 
ducer nor the consumer wants it; but the almost universal 
sentiment of the country is for the defeat of this bill, here 
and now, without compromise or amendment." 

After administering several hard blows to the measure 
upon general principles, opening the eyes of his listeners to 
the fact that he was thoroughly versed in the principles of 
the tariff, he turned to more specific arguments. He told 
them how the old Staffordshire granite whiteware, so uni- 
versally used in this country for a great many years, had 



l.-,0 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 

almost disappeared from the American market, and was 
rapidly giving place to our own manufactured article in that 
branch of industry. He produced the testimony of English 
manufacturers, not intended for an American audience, ad- 
mitting with alarm that " in ten years, at the rate they are 
going on, they will supersede the use of British crockery in 
the United States." He not only produced quotations by 
the score from statements made by English manufacturers 
when arbitrating in 1877, and before they became so care- 
ful as to their utterances lest their real opinions might be 
\\<c(\ against them on this side of the water, but taking- up 
schedule after schedule, he gave exhaustive statistics ex- 
plaining the percentage of reduction, and showing the prob- 
able effect upon trade. Then he entered upon the question 
of wages, revealing a knowledge of the economic principles 
underlying wages and production, which few men in Con- 
gress or out could justly boast of then or now. 

' This bill means reduced wages to operatives. It 
means the closest, sharpest competition among manufac- 
turers at home with manufacturers abroad. It means the 
closest economy of the price in the article produced. And 
the very first step taken in the direction of economy on the 
part of the manufacturer is to reduce the wages he pays to 
his laborer; not because he loves to do it, but because the 
exigencies id' his business demand it. That has always been 
so, and the present and the future will be no exception to 
the past." 

The MrKinlev of to-day could point to that utterance 
made when a young man in Congress, twenty years ago, 
and challenge the business interests and the laboring classes 
in this country to deny that experience had proved its 



LIFE <)F WILLIAM McKINLEY. I",! 

ti'.itli. Bui lie did not deal with the wage question in 
genera] terms only. Ee produced statistics giving com- 
parative prices of labor in this and other countries in dif- 
ferent lines of industry, showing the inconsistency of the 
Wood Hill in many of its schedules. Towards the (dose 
of his speech he made a striking statement as to the national 
credit, which is of peculiar relevancy to-day. 

"Mr. Chairman, much discussion has been had at this 
session touching the maintenance of the national credit, in 
which purpose I most heartily concur. The national credit 
is of paramount importance, and nothing should he done to 
tarnish or impair it, nothing omitted to strengthen or im- 
prove it. But will the Congress of the United States be 
reminded that in no way can you more surely maintain 
the national credit than by assiduously maintaining the 
great industries of the country, which for the most part con- 
stitute the nation's wealth. There can be no permanent 
credit which is not based upon the labor, the capital, and 
the wealth of the nation. Destroy the latter, and at the 
same moment the former is destroyed. The bill before us 
impairs the revenues pledged to the government creditor, 
and endangers the material interests of the country. Be- 
ware lest in your effort to pattern after the English policy 
you do not at the same time sap the foundations and destroy 
the true souree of our national credit." 

We can imagine that Speaker Randall, the champion 
of the proteetion system in bis party for so many year-, 
recognized in McKinley one of the coming leaders in the 
defense of the national industries, ami of the national eredit. 
Two years later, Randall being again speaker, McKinley 
was put next to Reed on a more important committee. 



152 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

The question may be asked where and when McKinley 
acquired all the knowledge of the tariff question and the 
thorough information as to the specific effects of different, 
rates that he showed himself possessed of at the very be- 
ginning of his Congressional career. This speech against 
the Wood Bill was delivered only a few days after the bill 
was introduced into the House, lie evidently entered Con- 
gress fully equipped for tariff debate. It is doubtless true 
that, with his earlier instruction, and because of his fond- 
ness for economic study, McKinley had, during his career 
as a lawyer at Canton, and while at home with his invalid 
wife, improved every opportunity to acquire a firm grasp of 
all the special features of the tariff; an understanding of 
the general business conditions of the country which as- 
tonished men at Washington of older heads, and opened the 
way quickly for his promotion to the Ways and Means com- 
mittee. 

Moreover, McKinley was a student at Washington, as 
he had been at Poland and at Canton. When he entered 
Congress, he took rooms on the fifth floor of the Ebbitt 
House. Mrs. McKinley had a room fitted up for her es- 
pecial comfort, and McKinley a little office where he was 
at home to his friends who called in the evening for a friend- 
ly smoke and a chat. He led a quiet and studious life — 
gathering facts, developing himself intellectually, and go- 
ing little into the social round at Washington. He pre- 
ferred to be near his wife, and seldom an evening passed 
in his study without a brief half-hourly visit to Mrs. Mc- 
Kinley, to see that she needed nothing for her comfort. 
Ami so lie gained the reputation of a devoted husband, an 
industrious, well-informed and plodding Congressman, and 



LIFE OF WILLI AM McKINLEY. J£3 

at the same time a reputation for affability and courtesy 
that made him popular. Having once met a man, he made 
him his friend, even if he was bis political enemy. The 
longer their association, the stronger the friendship grow. 

Mrs. Ale Kin ley was not confined to her rooms at the 
Ebbitt House, but, on the other hand, she acted as hostess 
on several occasions, and was an intimate friend of Mrs. 
President Hayes, in whose absence, she frequently pre- 
sided at the White House. By education and accomplish- 
ments, she was amply able to fulfill any social duties which 
her strength permitted. 

It was during' the second session of the Forty-fifth Con- 
gress that Major McKinley's old friend and comrade, Gen- 
eral Hastings, visited Washington and became acquainted 
with Miss Piatt, who was one of Mrs. McKinley's dear 
friends. It was in Mrs. McKinley's drawing-room at the 
Ebbitt House that the romance in the general's life first 
began. The wedding of General Hastings and Miss Piatt 
took place in the A\ Trite House, and was a social event of 
considerable importance. 

The Forty-fifth Congress closed its third and last ses- 
sion shortly after the resumption of specie payment, and 
another achievement was recorded in the history of the Re- 
publican party. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

PLANTING THE BANNER OF PROTECTION — IN THE 
FORTY-SIXTH AND FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESSES. 

McKinley's District Gerrymandered — Three of his Old Counties 
Taken Away, and Three Strange Counties Given to him — 
McKinley Accepts Renomination— Elected by 1,300 Majority— 
His Speech for Free and Fair Elections— Temporary Chairman 
of the Republican State Convention at Columbus — On the 
Ways and .Means Committee — The Tariff Commission and its 
Report — The Bill of 1883 — McKinley's Tilt with Hewitt and 
with Springer — Hewitt Compelled to Admit that Wages De- 
pended upon Protection — McKinley's Fidelity to his Con- 
stituents not Measured by the Support they Cave him. 

AJOE McKINLEY'S first term in Congress at- 
tracted the attention of the people of his district, 
and he had no difficulty in securing a renomina- 
tion; l»ut meantime be had attracted the attention of the 
Democrats, and a Democratic Legislature had arranged a 
new gerrymander of the State, so that McKinley was com- 
pelled to run from a district largely new to him. It was 
made to consist of Stark, Wayne, Ashland, and Portage 
counties, which, in the previous elections, had given a Dem- 
ocratic majority of L,800. The Democrats congratulated 
t hemselves on the prospects of securing a large delegation in 
the next Congress, and of beating the little protectionist. 

The Republicans were anything hut hopeful. 

(154) 




LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 1,",5 

Major McKinley accepted ;i renomination at Massilon, 
Ohio, August 7, L878, in a speech thanking the Republi- 
cans of the district, which be said contained " three coun- 
ties hitherto strangers in this political relation, all having 
distinguished citizens who would do honor to the nomina- 
tion, and each with popular favorites, who would command 
the confidence and support of the Republicans of the dis- 
trict." And he added: " I assure you that with your aid, 
and the assistance of the constituency which you repre- 
sent, nothing shall be omitted on my part to achieve a party 
success, which will overturn and render forceless the mach- 
inations of the Democratic Legislature to defraud Republi- 
cans of their just representation." 

The maliciousness of the gerrymander is apparenl from 
the tact that it had been an unbroken rule to make a re- 
apportionment only at the end of each decennial period, after 
each federal census, thus securing a representation based on 
the actual number of inhabitants disclosed at each census. 
A reapportionment had been made at the regular period fol- 
lowing the census of 1870, and though the Democratic 
party had control of the Legislature in 1873, it did not deem 
it necessary to disturb the apportionment at that time. 

McKinley declared himself strongly opposed to any 
reapportionment except such as followed directly after the 
taking of the census; and in the same speech, he gave 
his opinion of the work of the Democratic Congress, of 
which he had been a member. 

" Where can you find in the work of the Democratic 
party in the last House anything which commends it to 
the favor and support of the people ? It is true it furnished 
a door-keeper, at the beginning of the session, who, by the 



156 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

votes of the Republicans, was dismissed for malfeasance in 
office. It is true that, without regard to the will of majori- 
ties or the law of the land, but to increase their power in 
the House, they unseated Republicans, and put in their 
places Democrats who had never been elected. They 
created the Potter committee, which, in the language of 
Alexander Stephens, ' was a cyclone burst upon the House, 
and its only effect was to disturb the peace, harmony, and 
quiet of the country.' "...." They cast a drag- 
net into the official waters, but were successful in catching 
Democratic delinquents only. They reduced the tax upon 
whiskey and tobacco and proposed to increase it upon sugar 
to maintain the revenues of the government. What relief 
have they brought to the suffering masses whom they prom- 
ised to ' set upon their feet and crown with immortal wealth 
and unfailing plenty ' ? Where is the fulfillment of their 
promise! \ 

" Broken promises, disappointed hopes, increased ap- 
propriations, and threatened revolutions — these are some 
of the trophies of Democratic ascendancy ! . . . I 
am firm in the belief that we have a victory within reach, 
which can be secured by striving for it. The campaign is 
full of material which should be employed and carried to 
the people, showing Democratic faithlessness, and the dan- 
gers of Democratic ascendancy. No labor should be re- 
garded too great to restore Republican control; no effort 
should be spared in securing a result so essential to good 
government and so necessary to the peace, order, and pros- 
perity of the country." 

It was on these lines that McKinley entered into his 
second campaign for Congress, in a district with which he 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 157 

was unfamiliar, and with a nominal Democratic majority 
of 1,800 against him; but when the votes were counted 
election day, it was found that lie had been elected by 1,300 
majority. 

He had rendered forceless the machinations of Dem- 
ocratic legislation. But the Democrats had been more 
successful throughout the country, and for the first time 
since the ( Wgress that was chosen with President Buchanan 
in 1 85G, their party was in control of both legislative branch- 
es, and Mr. Randall was again chosen speaker of the House 
over Mr. Garfield — this time by a vote of 143 to 125. The 
gallant fight that McKinley had made in his district, with 
the prestige that he had won during his first term in Con- 
gress, secured him a much more important position. 
Speaker Randall placed him on the Judiciary committee. 

The Forty-sixth Congress was not a notable one, and 
few questions came up to draw anything unusual from any 
of the members of the House. One act of the Democratic 
majority was an attempt to repeal the existing election law, 
by a provision in the bill making appropriations for the leg- 
islative, executive, and judicial expenses of the govern- 
ment. 

McKinley threw himself into this fight, and opposed 
the provision with all his might. He declared that this 
practical repeal of these laws would remove every safe- 
guard against, fraud in the exercise of elective franchises, 
and would again make possible the enormous outrages 
upon a pure ballot and free government, which marked 
the elections in the city of New York and elsewhere in 
1868. The proposition, he said, was an open assault upon 
the freedom and purity of elections. The peroration of his 

10 



158 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

long speech on this question is a good example of his an- 
imated and vigorous style, with its crisp, clean-cut sen- 
tences, each like the thrust of a bayonet. He said: 

" The country is not asking for it. Business will suffer 
and is suffering every day from the agitation of a continued 
extra session of Congress. Uncertainty in legislation is a 
terror to all business and commercial interests, and this un- 
certainty exists, and will continue, so long as we remain in 
session. Let us remove it. Let us pass the appropriation 
I .ills, simple and pure. Let us keep the Executive Depart- 
ment in motion. Let the courts of the United States go 
on and clear up their already over-crowded dockets. Let 
the representatives of the government abroad, upon whom 
our commercial relations with other nations so largely de- 
pend, be not crippled. Give the pensioners of the gov- 
ernment their well-earned and much-needed pensions. Let 
the army be clothed, provisioned, and paid. Do this, strik- 
ing out all political amendments from the appropriation 
bills. Adjourn speedily, and give the country that peace 
and rest which will be promotive of the public good. When 
we have done this, we have evidenced the wisdom of states- 
men and the work of patriots. Let the people, then, the 
final arbiter, the source of all power, decide the issue be- 
tween us." 

This speech was followed by tremendous applause in 
the House, and was reckoned one of the best made during 
thai session. 

In the next election, that in which GTarfield was elected 
President, McKinley was renominated and re-elected from 
the same district by ;i good majority. He acted as tempo- 
rary chairman of the Republican State convention at Co- 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. l.V.t 

Iumbus in 1880, and made crimes againsl the ballot the 
subject of much of his speech, predict ina,' that in the coming 
campaign, conservative men, free and independent in poli- 
tics, would act with the Republicans, believing that the 
business and material interests of the country were mere 
secure with the Republican party than with any other. 

McKinlev was one of the most sought after of the 
speakers in that campaign, and when Garfield made his his- 
toric trip to the Fifth Avenue Hotel conference in 1880, 
he had McKinley go with him and speak at every stopping 
place. At Buffalo, they were met by Governor Cornell, 
.Marshall Jewell, Frank Hiscock, and Levi P. Morton, then 
in Congress; and they had a triumphant tour through the 
Empire State. Before Congress met, Garfield was dead, 
and Arthur was President. The Forty-seventh Congress 
again had a Republican majority, and McKinley secured 
the place on the Ways and Means committee left by Gar- 
field. He had already become one of the leaders in the 
House in debates upon economic and financial questions. 

The tariff question reappeared, but in a different manner, 
an act being passed in May, 1882, for the appointment of 
a commission of nine persons to consider tariff matters — 
the duties on imports then in force yielding more revenue 
than was sufficient. The protectionists favored a tariff com- 
mission because they believed that any changes should be 
made after careful investigation, and without inflicting 
damage upon any important line of manufacture. In De- 
cember, 1882, the commission which had been appointed 
made a report to the House of Representatives, and out of 
this report, the Committee on Ways and Means formu- 
lated and reported a tariff bill which made an average re* 



100 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

ductioD of 20 per rent. The two strongest advocates of the 
hill were the late William D. Kelley of Pennsylvania, the 
chairman of the Ways and Means committee, and McKin- 
ley. The latter delivered a long speech in the House in 
April, 1882, advocating the commission — going over the 
history of tariff legislation, and taking sides strongly for 
a protective tariff. It was while delivering this speech that 
lie had a lively tilt with Abram S. Hewitt of New York, who 
was considered one of the shrewdest men on the Democrat- 
ic side of the House, and a sharp debater. In the course of 
liis remarks, McKinley said that Hewitt, who did him the 
honor to he listening, was pleased to advance an axiom in 
the school of protection which ought to be perpetuated. 
" He declared at that time, what I have never seen bet- 
ter slated, ' that free trade will simply reduce the wages of 
labor to the foreign standard.' " 

Mr. 1 lewitt. " Will the gentleman quote the authority 
for that ?" 

Mr. McKinley. "Yes, sir; will the gentleman deny 
it i" 

Mr. Hewitt. " T do not know; I will tell you in a mo- 
ment when T hear where it is." 

McKinley said he did not expect to go into this mat- 
ter except to make the ((notation, but as Hewitt had called 
for the authority, he invited his attention to a correspond- 
ence that took place between Hewitt and Jay Gould in 
1 S 7". and which could be found published in the Bul- 
letin of the American Iron and Steel Association. Gould's 
letter to Hewitt stated that he did not feel at lib- 
erty to attach his signature to a memorial praying for a 
reduction of the dntv on steel rails, nnd he asked Hewitt's 






LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 103 

advice, and Hewitt in his letter, which McKinley read, 
said that he did not believe in the reduction of duty on 
steel rails, and added: " The only reason why we pay 
more for American steel rails is because we pay a higher 
rate for the labor which is required for their manufacture, 
but for 11- > greater quantity of labor. Free trade will sim- 
ply reduce the wages of labor to the foreign standard." 

" The only reason," continued Hewitt in his letter, 
" why a tariff' is necessary, is to supply the laborer with such 
wages as will enable him to travel and consume, not merely 
the necessaries, but some of the luxuries of modern civiliza- 
tion/' 

" And yet, the other day," said McKinley, " the gen- 
tleman declared on the floor of this House that protection 
hail nothing to do with the wages of labor." 

Mr. Hewitt. " If the gentleman from Ohio will per- 
mit me to interrupt him, I will make the answer now; other- 
wise I will wait till he gets through." 

Mr. McKinley. " Does the gentleman deny the let- 
ters ? " 

Mr. Hewitt. " On the contrary — they are genuine." 

Mr. McKinley. " That is all I want to know; the gen- 
tleman can reply to me later on." 

The colloquy continued until McKinley made Hewitt 
admit that in the iron and steel business, in which lie was 
interested, and in protected industries, protection was need- 
ed for the purpose of maintaining the rate of wages in the 
United States. 

Tn the debate on the bill submitted by the "Ways and 
Means committee early in 1883, McKinley made a notable 
speech upon the tariff, which, read in the light of events, 



1(J4 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

was a .-i t'iking prophecy of what was to occur. He came out 
squarely for i he principle of protection as a feature of duties 
<>ii imports- to -i -imply a protective tariff, but a tariff for 
protection. It should be said that, before the tariff bill 
was taken up in the House, another Congressional election 
had been held — that in the fall of 1882 — and that Mc- 
Kinlcv had made another struggle against a new Dem- 
ocratic reapportionment,, and that he was elected by a ma- 
jority of only eight votes. 

Towards the close of his speech on the tariff bill he 
said: " Mr. Chairman, we can have the Democratic doc- 
trine of free trade whenever the Democratic party can 
make slaves of our laboring men, but not until then. [Ap- 
plause on the Republican side.] Why, if labor was de- 
graded on this side of the Atlantic like the other, we might 
compete with the best manufactories of the world in any 
market. Xo lover of his race, no friend of humanity, 
wants reduced wages. I do not speak for capital. Capital 
can take care of itself. Rob it of its profits in any of the 
hi called protected industries, and it will seek other avenues 
of investment and profit. T speak for the working-men of 
my district, the workingmen of Ohio and of the country." 

Mr. Springer. "They did not speak for you very 
largely at the last election." 

Mr. McKinley. " Ah, my friend, my fidelity to my 
constituents is not measured by the support they give me. 
[Greal applause.] I have convictions upon this subject 
which T would not surrender, or refrain from advocating, 
if ten thousand majority had been entered against me last 
October [renewed applause]: and if that is the standard 
of political morality, and conviction, and fidelity to duty 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 165 

which is practiced by the gentleman from Illinois, 1 trust, 
that the next House will nol do, what I know they will 
not do, make him speaker of the House. [Laughter and 
applause. | And 1 trust another thing, that that general 
remark interjected here, coming from a man who has to 
sit in the next House, does not mean that he has already 
prejudged my case which is to come before him as a judge." 

Mr. Springer. " Your constituents have done that 
for you." 

Mr. McKinley. " For if he has, then he would be sub- 
ject to be taken from the panel of jurors, because he had 
already expressed an opinion in the case which was to be 
tried before him." 

Mr. Springer did not have the chance to act as judge in 
McKinley's case in the next Congress. 



CHAPTER XV.. 

UNSEATED BY DEMOCRATIC HOUSE — HORIZONTAL 
TARIFF REFORM DEFEATED. 

Democratic Landslide of 1882 — Grover Cleveland Comes to the 
Front — MeKinley in his Old District — McKinley** Opponent - 
Fleeted ]\y only Eight Votes — Judge Folger Thinks them a 
Good Many — Carlisle Elected Speaker — McKiriley's Opponent 
Contests his Seat — The Morrison Bill for Horizontal Tariff 
Reduction — McKinley Shows up its Inconsistencies and Ab- 
surdities — Calls it the Invention of Indolence and the Mechan- 
ism of the Botch Workman — " They Toil not Neither do they 
Spin" -The "Carlisle Shape" Prediction Regarding Tariff 
Reduction on Wool and Woolens — The Ohio Convention — 
McKinley Elected a Delegate — A Blaine Man — Returns to 
Washington— Speech on the Wallace Contest— He is Unseated. 

THE Democrats of Ohio having observed that the 
previous gerrymander by which McKinley had 
been thrown into a strong Democratic district had 
only resulted in a larger success for the increasingly popular 
protectionist, passed another act by which he was again 
placed in his old district. But it will be remembered that 
the elections of 1882 constituted a landslide in favor of the 
Democrats. Grover Cleveland was brought into notice 
by his phenomenal majority of over 102,000 for Governor 
of New York over Judge Folger, a result due to the intense 
quarrel between the Stalwarts and Half-breeds in the Re- 
publican ranks of that State. The Republicans also of 

Pennsylvania lost the head of their ticket after an exciting 

(1GG) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 1C7 

campaign, the Democrats electing Governor Pattison 
Besides this, McKinley was seeking a third term, and sonic 
of the old leaders in the original district had not forgotten 
the ease with which, six years before, the young attorney 

of Canton had stepped to the front, and set them all aside. 

To be in politics in Ohio, it is almost impossible to avoid 
becoming involved in home wrangles. Perhaps little 
is lost by them in the end for they continually excite a large 
degree of interest in public affairs, promote active parti- 
sanship, and produce strong men. There was some strong 
opposition to McKinley's nomination, but his sincerity of 
purpose, his rapid advancement in Congress, the strong 
friends he had made there, his devotion to duty, as well 
as his many popular qualities, easily gained him the sup- 
port of a large majority of the Republicans of his district 
for the nomination, and though a good deal of dissatisfac- 
tion was caused in circles which should have been loyal to 
him under all circumstances, he was elected, but by the nar- 
row majority of eight votes. His Democratic opponent, 
Jonathan II. Wallace, promptly filed a contest. In some 
towns votes had been cast bearing other names than bis, 
which Wallace claimed were intended for him. The con- 
test was a notable one, and engaged the attention of the 
committee on elections for very nearly the whole session 
of Congress. Meanwhile Major McKinley kept his sent, 
and was one of the most active and useful members. 

A story is told concerning a visit which McKinley paid 
to Judge Folger at the Treasury Department soon after 
the election. Folger, as we have said, had been buried 
under a majority of 102,000 votes. McKinley mentioned 
the fact that his majority was only eight votes. 



],;,S LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

" Young man," said Secretary Folger, " let me tell you 
that eight votes is a mighty big Republican majority this 
fall." 

The Forty-eighth Congress convened December 3, 
L883, and John G. Carlisle was chosen Speaker of the 
House by 190 votes to 113 for J. Warren Keifer. Morri- 
son of Illinois, chairman of the Ways and Means commit- 
tee, two months later introduced his " horizontal " tariff 
bill. McKinley had already become the active and leading 
man of the Ways and Means committee on the Republi- 
can side. Judge William I). Kelley of Pennsylvania, who 
had long been the guardian of the protective tariff, and who 
was the senior Republican member of the Ways and Means 
committee, was becoming an old man, and recognizing 
in McKinley the natural leader for the protective cause in 
the future, generously cast his mantle upon him, and 
that year, as on subsequent years, McKinley performed the 
hard work for the Republican side, preparing the minority 
report on the Morrison bill. He also took the brunt of 
debate against the bill, and his forcible exhibition of the 
incongruities and inconsistencies of the measure was large- 
ly instrumental in its rejection later. 

Tn the debate on the Tariff Commission bill of 1883, the 
Democrats had sought to fasten upon the Republican ma- 
jority the charge of being incompetent to frame a tariff 
bill of their own, and so for that reason had abrogated a 
constitutional duty, and had farmed out the work to an ex- 
pert commission. But when two years later Morrison 
brought in this same commission bill with a proposition for 
a horizontal reduction of twenty per cent, all around, with 
the added provision that the reduction should not operate 






LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 109 

t<> reduce I lie duty below the rate at which any article was 
dutiable under the tariff act of 1801, commonly called the 
Morrill tariff, and in no case should cotton goods pay a 
higher rate of duty than forty per cent, ad valorem, and 
wools and woolens a higher rate than sixty per cent, ad 
valorem, and metals a higher rate than fifty per cent, ad 
valorem, McKinley had a rare opportunity, which he fully 
improved, to vent his fine sarcasm on the subject of the 
Democratic capacity for revenue legislation. In the course 
of his speech he demonstrated by facts and figures that the 
measure, if it became a law, would involve dispute and con- 
tention upon nearly every invoice, and would lead to fre- 
quent, expensive, and annoying litigation. Articles would 
pay an ad valorem rate under one act, and a specific or com- 
pound rate under the other. Tie cited 118 classes of this 
kind. He said it would be almost impossible to ascertain the 
dutiable rate where the descriptions of classifications were so 
different, and showing already that wonderful familiarity 
with the various schedules, he took them up, one after the 
other, challenging the advocates of the bill to sit down and 
make calculations upon the articles he had named, and give 
their dutiable rates. He pointed out how, in some cases, 
the least variation in the price of goods in the same invoice 
would require classifications under different tariff regula- 
tions. 

Then he turned upon the Democratic side of the House 
and said: "And all these absurdities, complications, and in- 
congruities, a majority of this House are asked to solemnly 
enact into public law, which the people of this country are 
asked to submit to, because there are gentlemen who are un- 
willing to sit down and carefully mature a discriminating 



170 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

tariff act. The advocates of this bill criticized the Republi- | 
cans of the last Congress because they created a tariff cum- I 
mission, asserting that such action was a confession of the in- I 
capacity of a majority of the Committee on Ways and Means 
to revise the tariff. By reason of incapacity, as they de- I 
elared, the committee ' fanned out ' the subject to a com- I 
mission of nine experts. Much opprobrium was sought to 
be put upon the majority because of its alleged abrogation 
of a constitutional duty. What can be said of the capac- 
ity of the majority of the Committee on Ways and Means 
as evidenced by the bill now before us ? It is a confession 
upon its face of absolute incapacity to grapple with the 
great subject. [Laughter and applause on the Republican I 
side.] The Morrison bill will never be suspected of having 
passed the scrutiny of intelligent experts like the Tariff 
Commission. This is a revision of the cross-cut process. A 
ft gives no evidences of the expert's skill. It is the invention 
of indolence; I will not say of ignorance, for the gentlemen 
of the majority of the Committee on Ways and Means are I 
competent to prepare a tariff bill. I repeat, it is not only the 
invention of indolence, but it is the mechanism of a botch 
workman. A thousand times better refer the question to 
an intelligent commission which will study the subject in | 
its relation to the revenues and industries of the country 
than to submit to a bill like this. They have determined 
upon doing something, no matter how mischievous, that 
looks to the reduction of import duties; and doing it, too, in 
spite of die fact that not a single request has come either 
from the great producing or great consuming classes of the ; 
United Slates for any change in the direction proposed, j 
With the power in their hands, they have determined to put j 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 171 

the knife in, no matter where it cuts, or how much blood 
ii draws. It is the volunteer surgeon, unhidden, insisting 
upon using the knife upon a body that is strong and healthy; 
needing only rest and release from the quack whose skill 
is limited to the horizontal amputation, and whose science is 
barren of either knowledge or discrimination. And then it 
is not to stop with one horizontal slash; it is to be followed 
by another, and still another, until there is nothing left either 
of life or hope." 

The Democrats winced under the force of this charge, 
so transparently true, and they winced also under some of 
the pleasantries which McKinley introduced into his speech 
in a striking variation to the long array of facts and statis- 
tics and mathematical calculations he produced to show the 
absurdities of the measure. Glancing at Mr. Dorsheimer 
( if Xew York city, an attentive and interested listener, Mr. 
McKinley said: 

" I have been unable to find any sentiment in the United 
States, except in the utterances of the Democratic majority 
in this House, and outside of the city of my distinguished 
friend (Mr. Dorsheimer), who sits before me, being the free 
trade (dubs of his and the neighboring city of Brooklyn, 
any sentiment in favor of the passage of this hill. There 
is where it exists, and it is a remarkable fact that that class 
of gentlemen ' neither sow nor reap, and do not gather into 
barns.'" ' 

Mr. Kasson. ".And the lilies?" 

Mi'. McKinley. "Yes, the lilies. They are like the 
lilies of the field. 'They toil not, neither do they spin.' 
[Laughter.] They have fixed incomes, belong to the inde- 
pendent and wealthy classes who now buy most of their 



172 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

goods abroad, and hope to buy tliem cheaper if the duties 
are reduced." 

Speaking of the deep interest manifested by the foreign 
manufacturers in the success of the Democratic party, and 
of how they rejoiced and were made glad by the prospect 
of tariff reduction, he turned to the Speaker, and said: 

" One firm of importers celebrated that free trade vic- 
tory by christening a line of English goods with the sig- 
nificant trade mark, ' the Carlisle shape ' [laughter and ap- 
plause] and published as the ' coming thing,' [ap- 
plause] named in honor of Speaker Carlisle, to whom that 
country looked to reduce the present outrageous tariff on 
crockery. [Applause.] These goods, made in a foreign 
pottery, with foreign materials, foreign labor, and for- 
eign capital, are fittingly crowned with the head of the 
British lion. Pass this bill, and yon will all have ' shapes ' 
and be honored with like manifestations of approval. [Ap- 
plause.] I know my honored friend, the Speaker, craves 
no such distinction." 

Tn the course of this speech, made twelve years ago, 
he made a prediction regarding wool, and woolen indus- 
tries, which thousands of farmers and manufacturers can 
appreciate to-day. He said: "Free trade, or a revenue 
tariff, will glut this market with foreign woolens, made by 
foreign labor, cheaper than our own, and the effect will 
be to break down our woolen factories ' which make the 
market for our own farmers.' . . I warn yon that 
every assaull made upon the woolen manufacturer, no mat- 
ter how slight, is directed alike at the wool grower. You 
cannol cripple the one without diminishing the business 
of the other." 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 173 

With consummate skill, be directed his speech to forc- 
ing a concession from Morrison as to the difference in the 

cost of labor in other countries than this. lie took the 
subject matter up to a certain point, and then turning to 
Morrison, said: 

"My friend from Illinois seemed to dissent a moment 
ago when I said there was a difference in the rate of 
wages." 

Mr. Morrison. I did not, sir; there is a great differ- 
ence in the rate of wages in some industries, and some dif- 
ference in all. 

Mr. McKinley. I beg the gentleman's pardon. The 
gentleman from Illinois in view of the statements I have 
made within the last five minutes now admits there is a dif- 
ference. I thank him for the frank confession. 

A month later the Morrison tariff hill was rejected in 
the Honse, which boasted of a Democratic majority of 77. 

Just previous to McKinley's speech on the Morrison 
bill in the Honse, he had returned from the Ohio State 
convention for the nomination of delegates to the National 
convention in the fall. McKinley went into the conven- 
tion a Blaine man. Although there was the warmest feel- 
ing all through the State for John Sherman, who was also 
a candidate for the presidency, there was in many sections 
of Ohio a stronger sentiment for that illustrious leader, 
James G. Blaine, and being a Blaine man, McKinley sim- 
ply represented the prevailing opinion in his district, and. 
in fact, throughout the eastern section of the State. 
Sherman understood exactly McKinley's attitude, and they 
were warm friends. 

McKinlev was made permanent chairman of the eon- 
11 ' 



174 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

vention, performed its duties in an efficient and impartial 
manner, and in his speech forcibly presented the issues 
of the dav. The struggle between the Blaine and Sher- 
man forces came upon the election of delegates at large. 
The Blaine men, although understanding that Foraker's 
firsl choice was Sherman, acquiesced in his election as a del- 
egate at large by acclamation. Several names were then 
presented for the remaining three places. It was insisted 
thai as the 1 Maine men had consented to elect Judge For- 
aker by acclamation, they were entitled to a reciprocal 
compliment, and ashed for the nomination of the vener- 
able Judge West of Bellefontaine. Then many motions 
were made for the election of other men by acclamation, 
and great confusion prevailed. Finally one of the lead- 
ing delegates mounted a chair and nominated McKinley 
;i~ the second delegate at large. 

This was one of the occasions on which McKinley 
showed his magnanimous sense of honor and good faith. 
From his place in the chair he thanked the convention, 
but said thai he could not, under any circumstances, al- 
low his name to go before the convention at that time, for 
others who were candidates had been assured by him that 
he would not permit his name to be used while theirs 
were before the convention. The hall was in an uproar, 
the majority being plainly in favor of the election of McKin- 
ley by acclamation. Mr. King id' .Muskingum county, act- 
ting upon the platform, put the motion, and declared it car- 
ried, while McKinley was pounding with all his might upon 
the table, and protesting. McKinley ruled that the motion 
had not prevailed. General Grosvenor, amid the greatest 
excitement, mounted the platform, put the motion a second 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 175 

time, and declared it carried. .McKinley again ruled thai 
the motion had qoI prevailed, and insisted that ;i vote be 
taken upon the names already submitted, excluding his 
own. His decision was appealed from, and the chair was 
not sustained. Yet McKinley stubbornly and firmly re- 
fused to admit the validity of the motion of General Gros- 
venor, who then rose to a point of order, and insisted thai 
as McKinley had been elected by acclamation, the con- 
vention had now to elect hut two more delegates at large. 
Chairman McKinley overruled this point of order, and 
said that the business before the convention was the elec- 
tion of three delegates at large, and this decision was ap- 
pealed from. The convention now settled down to a firm 
determination to defeat Chairman McKinley in his efforts 
to prevent his own nomination. McKinley again spoke, 
begging the convention to sustain him in his position. 
The balloting went on, and it was evident from the begin- 
ning that McKinley was sure to be elected. A further 
contest was stopped, and McKinley was elected as delegate 
at large by acclamation. 

After his return to Washington, and the defeat of the 
Morrison tariff bill, the committee on elections reported in 
the contesting case of Wallace for McKinley's seat. On 
May 27, 1884, when a vote was to be taken, McKinley rose 
from his seat in the ITon.se, and made a characteristic 
speech. lie said among other things: 

- " I only ask from this House, the majority of which is 
opposed to me politically, to administer in this case the law 
and the precedents which they have always administered 
in the past, and with those precedents determine whether 
the contestant or the contcstce has a majority of the votes 



176 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

iu the Eighteenth Ohio district. ... I rise more 
particularly to say — and, indeed, it is about all I desire to 
say — that I claim nothing upon technicalities. I would 
not, if I could, retain my scat one hour upon a mere mis- 
take, or technicality, or inadvertence of election officers. 
And I say to this House that if it be necessary, to find that 
I am entitled to my seat, to throw out the ten votes in Car- 
roll county, which upon the face of the returns appear to 
be an error in the count against the contestant — if to 
give me my seat you must invoke those ten votes and de- 
duct them from the contestant, then I do not want my 
seat in this House. Although there is no legal proof that 
this is not an error, and although my friends have argued 
that part of the case in the light of the law, I desire here 
to say, to the majority and to the minority, if it be- 
comes necessary to deduct those ten votes from the con- 
testant to give me the seat, then I do not want it, and 
would not have it. 1 ' 

It was practically conceded that by the law and the 
precedents McKinley was plainly entitled to his seat. 
Speaker Carlisle was strongly opposed to unseating him. 
But the Democratic majority could not resist the tempta- 
tion to unseat so forcible an antagonist, even though the 
important work of that Congress was practically over, and 
lie was unseated. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

A NATIONAL CHARACTER AT FORTY-ONE — THE REPUB- 
LICAN CONVENTION OF 1884. 

McKinley Made Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions at 
Chicago — Speaks Seldom but Attracts Attention — Comes to 
the Front at a Critical Hour and Prevents Adjournment of 
the Convention — Blaine Nominated — Campaign of 1884 — 
John Sherman Re-elected Senator in Ohio in 1885 — McKinley's 
Prediction Concerning Cleveland's Administration — Believes 
in Offensive Republicanism — No Stragglers — His Speech in 
Virginia for ex-Confederates — The "Bloody Shirt " — Con- 
gress Meets — Carlisle again Speaker — McKinley Defends 
Labor Arbitration — Suspects the Reason for Hoarding the 
Surplus — Attacks Cleveland's Message and the Mills Bill. 

SOON after McKinley was unseated, the Republican 
National convention met at Chicago. His speeches 
had attracted so much attention as clear and force- 
ful statements of Republicanism that he was made chair- 
man of the Committee on Resolutions. He read the plat- 
form, filling the whole great hall with his clear enuncia- 
tion and strong voice, and received a hearty ovation. 
In the planks relating to tariff and financial questions may- 
be detected his peculiar style of expression. 

The tariff plank read: " It is the first duty of good 
government to protect the rights and promote the inter- 
ests of its own people. The largest diversity of industry is 
most productive of general prosperity, and of the comfort 

(177) 



178 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

and independence of the people. We, therefore, demand 
that the imposition of duties on foreign imports shall be 
made, not ' for revenue only ' but that in raising the 
requisite revenues for the government, such duties shall 
be levied as to afford security to our diversified industries 
and protection to the rights and wages of the laborer; to 
the end that active and intelligent labor as well as capital 
have its just reward and the laboring man his full share in 
the national prosperity. Against the so-called economic 
system of the Democratic party, which would degrade our 
labor to the foreign standard, we enter our earnest pro- 
test." 

At an important moment of the convention McKinley's 
qualities as a leader and as a man who could in an emergency 
appear and exercise a strong influence over a large body of 
men, came to the front. When he spoke he at once attracted 
attention, and at a critical time in the convention brought 
the Blaine forces into a solid line, and avoided a movement 
which might have led to Blaine's defeat. 

In the three ballots that had been taken Blaine had con- 
stantly increased his lead, and then a final and desperate 
effort was made by those opposed to him, under the lead- 
ership of Foraker, acting in Sherman's behalf, and backed 
by friends of the other candidates to secure an adjourn- 
ment. The anti-Blaine men and the Blaine men were 
frantically yelling from their chairs. In the midst of the 
turmoil, which threatened to become a panic, McKinley 
arose. lie is not a tall man; he was then a young man, but 
his appearance is always noticeable. In limes of excite- 
ment, his face is likely to become pale, while his dark eyes 
shine like fire from beneath his heavy brows. His voice 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 170 

rang out in the midst of the turmoil. He waved his hand, 
and soon the hubbub ceased. The convention listened to 
hear what the Ohio man might say. Jle was master of the 
occasion. Calmly, but with force, he made a short speech 
to the effect that, as a friend of Blaine, he recognized and re- 
spected the rights of friends of other candidates to secure 
an adjournment, and added: " Let the motion be put, and 
let everybody in favor of the nomination of Blaine vote 
against it." 

McKinley was sure that Blaine had a majority of the 
delegates, and knew that if he could, like a general upon 
the field of battle, make an order once understood, the 
forces would come forward in a solid line, and they did. 
The motion for an adjournment was put and voted down, 
and Blaine won the day. 

During the campaign of 1884, McKinley was con- 
stantly in demand as a speaker. When Blaine made up 
his party, McKinley was included among those who made 
the tour of Indiana and Illinois. But, meanwhile he had 
another campaign of his own, for Congress, on hand, and 
the obstacles of another Democratic gerrymander to meet. 
This time the Democrats had placed in McKinley's dis- 
trict with Stark county, Summit, Medina, and Wayne 
counties, but the Democratic machinations again came to 
naught, and McKinley was elected by a good round ma- 
jority. 

In eight years from the time he had entered Congress 
— a man then unknown except to a small section of Ohio ■ — ■ 
he became a national character, known and admired all over 
the country for his thorough Republicanism, his faith in 
Republican principles, and his ability. He had just en- 



180 JAVK OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

tered his fortieth year. The Forty-ninth Congress did not 
meet until December 7, 1885, when Carlisle again became 
Speaker of the House. Meanwhile, Major McKinley was 
making campaign speeches in various parts of the country. 
hi the fall of 1885 there was a warm contest in Ohio to 
secure the Legislature and insure the re-election of Senator 
John Sherman. One of his most notable efforts in that 
campaign was at Ironton, Ohio, October 1, 1885. Much 
of his speech was directed to a discussion of the outrages 
upon the suffrage in the South, a question with which he 
showed quite as much familiarity as with the tariff. 

" There was found some palliation for slavery," he said, 
" it was recognized in the Constitution, and came down 
as an inheritance from the fathers; but no excuse either of 
law or tradition can hide this new slavery. ISTo palliation 
can be found for the wicked and willful suppression of the 
ballot, and unless it be checked it will sap the very founda- 
tions of the republic, and destroy the only nation approxi- 
mating self-government. This question, my fellow citi- 
zens, is at the foundation; it underlies all other political 
problems." 

lie expressed very little faith in the professions with 
which Mi". Cleveland had entered upon his administration. 
" Whatever Mr. Cleveland's individual purposes may be," 
lie said, " I have never believed he could rise higher than 
bis party or do anything else but register its will. The party 
is intent upon spoils, and little else. It has no policy of 
a national character; it has few aspirations higher than 
patronage. It has shown itself incapable of dealing with 
great questions and it has never measured up to the de- 
mands of the times or the emergency. Its professions of 



• LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 181 

reform arc insincere and hypocritical, and under the false 
cry of ' offensive partisanship ' it is doing what it has qoI 
the manliness to do openly and aboveboard. It does this by 

tale-bearing and false witness of neighbor against neigh- 
bor, at the expense of an open, frank, and dignified course." 

Later on, he said: " We believe in offensive Republi- 
canism — the Republicanism that fearlessly strikes for 
principle — that keeps its face always to the front, mov- 
ing on and sweeping aside every obstacle that impedes the 
onward march of progressive ideas. The Cleveland ad- 
ministration likes inoffensive Republicans. We do not; 
we have no use for them; they are only useful to the 
enemy; they only retard the movement of our advancing 
columns; they arc the stragglers moving with the baggage 
train — enrolled among us but never ready for duty and 
always ready to surrender without resistance." 

Major McTvinley, having had experience with stragglers 
on the fields of Antietam and Cedar Creek, could have 
used no more forcible an illustration of the idea he wished 
to convey. After Sherman's re-election had been se- 
cured, McKinley went to Virginia to help the Republicans 
in that State, and in a speech at the Academy of Music, 
Petersburg, October 20, 1885, he stated what protection 
meant for Virginia. Tn the campaign in Virginia up 
to that time much had been said about " waving the 
bloody shirt." In his speech, as reported for the Virginia 
State Committee, interspersed with frequent remarks by 
his hearers, may be observed the skillful manner in 
which he adapted himself to his Southern audience, and 
the tact with which he met the arguments of Democratic 
stump speakers. 



182 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKlNLEY. 

" That (the bloody shirt) seems to trouble the Dem- 
ocrats of the State of Virginia a great deal," he said. [Cries 
of " Talk about it." " I do not know for the life of me, my 
fellow citizens, what the Democrats mean by ' waving the 
bloody shirt/ [A voice — "Nor anybody else."" I do 
not know whether you know T what they mean or not, but 
if they mean by ' waving the bloody shirt ' that the Re- 
publican party of Ohio has insisted that every man in this 
country is the equal of every other man politically, then I 
want to confess before a Virginia audience, that we have 
' waved the bloody shirt.' [Applause.] If that is what 
it means, we have not only ' waved the bloody shirt,' but 
the Republican party of this country, and the good men of 
this country of every political party will continue to wave 
it until every citizen of this republic shall enjoy every right 
guaranteed to him by the Constitution of the United States. 
[Great applause, and cries of " Talk about it." I have said 
that in Ohio. T say it in Virginia, in sight of the battle- 
fields upon which we fought. We say it in the North, and 
we say it in the South, that not only shall the black man 
but the white man, the native born and the 1 naturalized, 
enjoy equally every right guaranteed by the Constitution 
of the United States wherever the American flag floats. 
[Applause] And when we say that, my fellow citizens, 
we say nothing about the late war except its eternal 
settlements. I came down here to Virginia to speak for 
two ex-Confederate soldiers. T was all over the val- 
ley of Virginia during the ' recent civil struggle.' T know 
I he -lull' of which 1 lie ( 'on federate soldier was made, and I 
know thai no braver men ever drew sword than these 1 Con- 
federate soldiers of the State of Virginia." 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. Ig;} 

Alter that the audience was on his side. There was a 
tendency also in Virginia to sit down under the ancestral 

hve and talk about the past. In his speech, Alelvinlev said: 
'• While blood is an excellent thing (3 like good blood), yet, 
my fellow citizens, do not forget that brains are safer, more 
to be relied upon than blood. They will serve you better, 
and every man in this country, as Senator Sherman has told 
you, must 'stand upon his own bottom'; every man must 
1 blaze his own way ' in the United States. We might just 
as well commence to understand that now. [Cries of ' That's 
it.'] There is no royal blood among us; there are no de- 
scended titles here; there is no way in the world of get- 
ting on and up or earning money except by work. There 
are just two ways in the United States to acquire money: 
one is to steal it, the other is to earn it, and the honorable 
way is to earn it, and you earn it by labor, either the labor 
of the hand or the labor of the brain." 

McKinley had very early predicted the inevitable 
struggle to ensue between President Cleveland and his 
party. In speaking to the Virginians only eight months 
after Cleveland's inauguration, he said: " The President 
is Democratic, or they think he is. [Applause and laugh- 
ter.] They thought he was, but I do not know how he is 
going to turn out." 

Soon after the Forty-ninth Congress met, there came 
up for consideration in the House a bill to provide for th s 
speedy settlement of controversies and differences between 
common carriers engaged in inter-state and territorial trans- 
portation of property or passengers and their employes. 
ATcKinley came out enthusiastically as a friend of the meas- 
ure and of arbitration as a principle, and on the 2d of 



184 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

April, stated his opinion without reserve, showing that he 
was in favor of the bill " for what it was, and only for what 
it was, because it did not undertake to do impossible things 
or close the line of safety." 

" I believe, Mr. Chairman, in arbitration as a principle. 
I believe it should prevail in the settlement of international 
differences. It represents a higher civilization than the ar- 
bitrament of war. I believe it is in close accord with the 
best thought and sentiment of mankind; I believe it is the 
true way of settling differences between labor and capital; 
I believe it will bring both to a better understanding, unit- 
ing them closer in interest, and promoting better relations, 
avoiding force, avoiding unjust exactions and oppres- 
sion, avoiding the loss of earnings to labor, avoiding disturb- 
ances to trade and transportation; and if this House can 
contribute in the smallest measure, by a legislative expres- 
sion or otherwise, to these ends, it will deserve and receive 
the gratitude of all men who love peace, good order, justice 
and fair play." 

In the Forty-ninth CYmgress McKinley met another op- 
portunity to place on exhibition the inconsistencies of the 
Democratic majority. Early in the session, Morrison 
came forward with another tariff bill, by which it was pro- 
posed to reduce the receipts from customs by $26,000,000. 
The committee failed to secure the courtesy of a considera- 
tion from the House on that measure, and very soon after- 
wards the same committee, speaking through 'the same 
chairman, brought in a resolution representing that there 
was not revenue enough on hand to pay the pensions of de- 
Berving soldiers. "What strange inconsistency!" ex- 
claimed McKinley. " What is the matter ? What can ac- 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 1H5 

coun.1 for these contradictory positions within a week \ 
Now, Mr. Speaker, if we have not revenue enough to meet 
these demands to-day, then why did von want, to reduce 
revenues $26,000,000 Last Thursday \ What, lias been 
done with that surplus since then \ . . . Y say that 
is not fair; that is not frank; that is not manly. II' we 
have no money in the treasury to pay the pensions of our 
worthy and dependent soldiers, let us put some there: let 
us provide means to increase our revenues." 

A few days later the Democratic majority again laid 
itself open to an attack from McKinley, quick to discover 
weak positions in the enemy, by bringing in a motion direct- 
ing the Secretary of the Treasury to use the surplus in the 
treasury for payment on the public debt, and about the 
same time Morrison offered a proposition to increase taxa- 
tion by proposing a measure for the imposition of an income 
tax to meet certain proposed government expenses. Presi- 
dent Cleveland and his Secretary of the Treasury, Daniel 
Manning, were very much opposed to the bill directing 
the payment from the surplus for the reduction of the debt, 
and took occasion to say so. 

McKinley pointed out the fact that in 1881, two years 
after the resumption of specie payments, the Republican 
Secretary of the Treasury called in $121,000,000 of bonds 
and paid them off. In 1882, the secretary called in $1 "•'!,- 
000,000 of bonds. In 1883, $86,000,000 and in 1884 
over $70,000,000 were paid off and canceled. He showed 
that in its first sixteen months the Cleveland administra- 
tion had paid off only $58,000,000 or only about one-third 
of the average payments made under the Republican ad- 
ministration every twelve months. 



186 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Mr Kin lev thus early suspected the reason for the policy 
of hoarding the surplus, as the Law already authorized the 
use of tlic surplus for the payment of the public debt. lie 
said one day in the House, " Some gentlemen of the major- 
ity, in the confidence of the administration, ought to ex- 
plain to us why the secretary does not exercise the discre- 
lion given him by the statute, and distribute the surplus. 
There must be some valid reason for it, some controlling 
reason which those charged with the management of our 
financial affairs know and realize better than we can." 

He strongly suspected then that President Cleveland 
was hoarding the surplus and keeping it out of the bands 
of the people for use as an argument in an intended tariff 
message which in the very next Congress made its appear- 
ance. 

In the fall of 1886, no gerrymander having complicated 
matters, Ohio being again Republican, McKinley was easily 
re-elected for another term. The Forty-ninth Congress ad- 
journed in March, 1887, McKinley returned to Ohio 
on the 30th of August, and delivered an address on " Our 
Public Schools " at the dedication of the public school 
building at Canal Fulton, Ohio. On September 14th, he 
delivered a long address before the Mahoning Valley Pio- 
neer and Historical Association at Youngstown. Later he 
devoted much time to campaign work for his friends. His 
speech at Dayton. October 18, 1887, is noted for the wise 
predictions he made of the course of events in the immedi- 
ate future. He warned the people that the Democratic 
party and the free trade organizations of the country were 
never so restless and aggressive as then, sustained as they 
were by .Mr. Cleveland with all his power and patronage. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 187 

It was suspected thai Mills of Texas would be at the bead 
of the Ways and Means committee in the next House, it' 
Democratic, and would submit a bill making a radical re- 
duction in the tariff; a bill that would really come from 
the summer garden of the President and not from the 
chosen representatives of the people, and would be cram- 
med down the throats of Democrats as an administration 
measure. P>ut, said McKinley, "Let us appeal to the 
highest judgment and reason of the people, and our ap- 
peal will not lie in vain. To that judgment we confidently 
commit our claims." 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

McKINLEY AND THE .MILLS KILL — FREE TRADERS DE- 
FEATED IN THE FIFTIETH CONGRESS. 

The Protectionist at Boston — Description of the Man who has 
Outgrown his Country — Another Bond Resolution — McKiu- 
ley Exposes the Administration's Purpose — Mills Bill Pre- 
sented — McKinley's Minority Report — The Majority Gives 
no Information to the Minority — Denounced by McKinley — 
Closing day and a Brilliant Spectacle — Discourtesy of Mills 
to Randall — McKinley Yields Time to the Pennsylvanian — 
Cheers for the Ohioan — McKinley's Speech — Discomforting 
the Free Trader — Leopold Morse Caught in a Trap— McKin- 
ley Purchases a Ten-Dollar Suit at Morse's Store — " You, Sir, 
Have Closed the Debate." 

TIIK Fiftieth Congress convened December 5th, 
1887. Carlisle was again chosen Speaker of the 
House, this time by a vote of 1G3 to 147 for 
Thomas B. Reed, and President Cleveland sent in his fa- 
mous tariff message, using the surplus in the treasury as an 
argument for reducing duties, as McKinley had predicted, 
and claiming that it was a condition, not a theory, which 
confronted the government. .Mills of Texas was chairman 
of the Committee on Ways and Means, and the Democratic 
majority set to work to prepare a tariff hill based on the 
" Cleveland theory." 

Meanwhile, McKinley paid a visit to Boston at the in- 
vitation of the Home Market club, and at its banquet at 

(188) 



2. 7) 

S H 

<K) > 

"^ H 

Er W 

n> 'Si 




LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 101 

the Hotel Vendome, February ( .», L888, delivered an ad- 
dress on the tariff question which was a clear and widely 
quoted statement of the Republican position. " The 
President," he said, " has emphasized the issue and marked 
the line of contest. We accept his challenge, and appeal 
from him to the people, the only sovereign we tolerate or 
recognize in the United States." 

He directed much of his speech to a refutation of the 
arguments for " free raw material," which seemed to find 
favor among some Massachusetts and Rhode Island manu- 
facturers, and declared that it was fallacious and seductive. 
He warned them that protection would not respond to the 
beck of one interest and turn a deaf ear to the earnest calls 
of another. Into the farmers' ears, the Democrats were 
whispering another seductive idea — that they would se- 
cure their manufactured articles cheaper. " They are 
not," he said, " troubled about the increased cost of woolen 
fabrics as a result of the tariff. The President's sympa- 
thy for them is uninvited and gratuitous. He groans be- 
neath the burden which he declares they bear and which 
they have never felt, and without commission or author- 
ity, assumes to speak for them." 

" It is left," he said, " to the President, standing apart 

from his illustrious predecessors, to frown with contempt 

upon a national policy which gave us the money, in large 

part, to carry on the war for the Union to a successful and 

glorious conclusion; that has enabled us to meet all our 

obligations in peace, to establish the highest credit in the 

commercial world, and to achieve a manufacturing rank 

second to none. He calls this system ' vicious, illogical, 

and inequitable '. We could frown back. We could 
12 



192 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

make faces, too; but that would bo scarcely decorous or dig- 
nified; aye, it would be wholly unworthy a cause whose 
worth is in its work and to whose trophies every citizen 
can point with pride and satisfaction." 

McKinley has a way of lighting up his long speeches, 
containing as they so often do long arrays of facts, figures, 
and extensive references to authorities, with little bursts 
of fervid appeal to his listeners, or with humorous descrip- 
tions of something relating to his subject. In his speech 
at the Home Market club he introduced the following de- 
scription of a man who had " outgrown his country," which 
may be quoted in full as an example. 

" The party that tries to lead us back will be buried 
beneath popular indignation. [Applause.] From whom 
does this complaint come ? It comes from the scholars, 
so-called, [laughter] and the poets, from whom we gladly 
take our poetry, but whose political economy we must 
decline fo receive; from the dilettanti and would-be diplo- 
matists, the men of fixed incomes; it comes from the men 
who l toil not, neither do they spin,' [great applause] and 
from those who 'do not gather into barns', [laughter] 
who have n<> investments except in bonds and mortgages, 
who want everything cheap but. money, everything easy 
tit secure but coin, who prefer the customs and civilization 
of other countries to our own, and who find nothing so 
wholesome as that which is imported, whether manners or 
merchandise, and want no obstructions in the shape of a 
tariff placed upon the free use of both. [Applause and 
laughter. | 

" A college-bred American (who happily does not rep- 
resent the educated men of the country), who had traveled 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 193 

much iii Europe, whose inherited wealth had enabled him 
t<> gratify every wish of his heart, said to me a few years 
ago, with a sort of listless satisfaction, that lie had out- 
grown his country. What a confession ! Outgrow his 
country ! Outgrow America ! Think of it ! I felt at 
the time that it would have been truer had he said that 
his country had outgrown him; but he was in no condition 
of mind to have appreciated so patent a fact. He had no 
connection at all with the progressive spirit of his coun- 
try. He had contributed nothing to its present proud 
position, or to the uplifting and welfare of his fellows; he 
had no part in the march of the republic. The busy, push- 
ing American lad of humble origin, educated at the public 
schools, had swept by him, as effort and energy always 
lead, and leave the laggard behind. His inheritance was 
not invested in productive enterprises, nor was his heart 
located where it sympathized with the aspirations of the 
people with whom he was bora and reared. His country 
had got so far ahead of him that he was positively lone- 
some, out of line, and wandering aimlessly along, to the 
rear of the grand procession. He was a free trader, for he 
told me so, and complained bitterly of the tariff as a burden 
upon the progressive men of the country, and that it se- 
verely handicapped him. When T pushed him to particu- 
larize the trammels which the tariff imposed upon him, as 
one of our sixty millions of people, he raised his hand, 
which had never been soiled by labor nor touched by hon- 
est toil, tightly encased in a French hid, and said: ' These 
gloves come enormously high here, sir, by reason of the 
tariff; the duty is actually added to their foreign cost, 
which falls heavily upon us consumers.' "What answer 



194 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

could I make to such an indictment ? How could I repel 
such a blow at our great industrial system % Discussion 
would have been idle. I could only regard him in speech- 
less silence, and gaze upon him with a feeling mixed with 
curiosity, pity, and contempt. [Applause and laughter. J 
I heard later on that he became a Mugwump ! [Laugh- 
ter.] That was the newest manifestation of protest 
against the iniquitous system of tariff which we had in 
America. It gave the poor fellow the opportunity of lead- 
ership, for all are leaders in that narrow circle of free trade 
spirits, and there my friend found a fit asylum for a man 
who had outgrown his country." [Great laughter and 
applause.] 

Then in one of those serious and eloquent appeals to 
the patriotic sentiment of his hearers, he said: 

" I would secure the American market to the Ameri- 
can producer [applause], and I would not hesitate to raise 
the duties whenever necessary to secure this patriotic end. 
[Applause.] I would not have an idle man, or an idle 
mill, or an idle spindle in this country, if, by holding ex- 
clusively the American market, we could keep them em- 
ployed and running. [Applause.] Every yard of cloth 
imported here makes a demand for one yard less of Ameri- 
can fabrication. 

Let England take care of herself; let France look after 
her interests; let Germany take care of her own people, 
but, in God's name, let Americans look after America ! 
[Loud applause.] Every ton of steel imported diminishes 
that much of home production. Every blow struck on the 
other side upon an article which comes here in competi- 
tion with like articles produced here makes the demand 



LIFE OP WILLIAM McKINLEY. 195 

for one blow less a1 home. Every day's labor upon the 
foreign products sent to the United States takes one day's 
labor from American workingmen. I would give the 
day's labor to our own, first, last, and all the time, and that 
policy which fails in this is opposed to American interests. 
To secure this is the great purpose of a protective tariff. 
Free trailers say, give it to the foreign workmen, if ours 
will not perform it at the same price, and accept the same 
wages. Protectionists say no; the workingmen say no, 
and justly ami indignantly resent this attempted degrada- 
tion of their labor; this blow at their independence and 
manhood." 

While Mills and the Democratic majority of the Com- 
mittee on Ways and Means were secretly at work upon 
their tariff hill, a resolution came up in the House to au- 
thorize the Secretary of the Treasury to apply the surplus 
money then in the treasury, or such surplus money as 
might later he in the treasury, for the purpose of redemp- 
tion of United States bonds. A similar resolution had 
been introduced by Morrison in the previous House, ap- 
parently against the wishes of the President at that time, 
hut the severe criticisms that were made of the President 
and the Secretary of the Treasury, for neglecting to use 
the surplus money to pay off the debts of the government, 
and the plain demonstration that the law gave them the 
right, hut that they had neglected to use it, apparently 
forced the administration to seek a resolution of " author- 
ization." McKinley pointed out that the law on the stat- 
ute hooks had keen introduced openly, and in the daylight, 
by the official head of the President's Cabinet, Secretary 
Bayard, when he was in the Senate, that no one had ever 



196 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 

thought to cast suspicion on it till President Cleveland 
did so, by suggesting that it had become a law through the 
medium of an appropriation bill. McKinley said that if 
that fact cast a suspicion on the appropriation acts of Con- 
gress, the President must condemn and refuse to execute 
nearly one-half the public laws, including the one that made 
his salary $50,000 instead of $25,000. He closed by say- 
ing: 

" Well, now, 1 wonder, Mr. Chairman, if there was any 
ulterior motive in piling up this surplus \ 1 wonder if 
it was not for the purpose of creating a condition of things 
in the country which would get up a scare and stampede 
the country against the protective system ( I wonder if 
this was not just what was in the mind of the President: 
' I will pile up this money in the treasury, $05,000,000 of 
it, and then I will tell Congress that the country will be 
filled with widespread disaster and financial ruin if it does 
not reduce the tariff duties' ? If the President thought 
that he was going to get up a storm of indignation and re- 
cruit the free trade army, break down the American sys- 
tem of protection, and put the free traders on top, he has 
probably discovered his blunder by this time; and the best 
evidence of it is that he now wants the very law which he 
has so long discredited solemnly re-enacted as if it were now 
and original with him; and so, having failed, he comes 
here through his Secretary of the Treasury — and T hope, 
Mr. Chairman, that the gentleman from Texas will read 
the letter of the secretary upon this subject — he comes 
here through his secretary and ask- us to pass this bill, 
which is a duplicate of existing law/' 

Mills introduced his bill on April 2d, rehearsing the 






LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 1P7 

arguments made by Mr. Cleveland in his message. The 
minority report was written by McKinley and was a clear, 
dignified protest against the measure and the method by 
which it had been framed and sprung upon Congress. 

The bill was presented ready-made by Mills, was framed, 
completed and printed without the knowledge of the Re- 
publican minority. If any consultations were had in 
committee, Republicans were excluded. Every effort on 
the part of the minority to obtain from Mills and the ma- 
jority the facts concerning the bill was unavailing. And 
a resolution to refer the bill to the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury for a statement of its probable effect on the revenue 
had been voted down by a strict party vote. The major- 
ity had worked on this bill behind closed doors, affording 
no opportunity to producers, consumers, experts, or work- 
ing-men to state their case. It was not an easy matter 
under the circumstances for anyone to prepare an adverse 
report, but it is acknowledged that the report made by Mc- 
Kinley is one of the best tariff documents which Congress 
has produced, though neither so elaborate nor so specific 
as the long speech which he delivered later. 

The general debate on the bill began April 17th and 
continued for twenty-three days and eight evenings. There 
were one hundred and fifty-one long speeches. Then it 
was debated by paragraphs for twenty-eight days, and 
passed on July 21, 1888, by a vote of 162 to 141). It was 
May IS, the day the general debate closed, that McKinley 
made his long speech. The scene in the House was one 
seldom witnessed. The galleries were crowded. By spe- 
cial resolution ladies were admitted to the Hour. It was 
a brilliant and expectant throng such as is attracted to 



198 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

the House but rarely, and only when the greatest speakers 
in Congress are to make their greatest efforts on the ques- 
tion of the hour. For two months the discussion had been 
going on, and this was the great and final day. 

It had been arranged that Judge Kelley, the veteran 
protectionist of the House, should open the debate, and 
Ale Kin ley, who had become the natural leader on the Re- 
publican side of the discussion, should speak last, closing 
the debate on his side, but Haskell of the Kansas delega- 
tion, and a Republican member of the Ways and Means 
committee, desired the honor of closing the debate, and 
asked Judge Kelley to persuade McKinley to give way 
to him. The judge sought out the generous McKinley, 
who readily consented, saying he did not care in what 
order he spoke, and he sat calmly awaiting his time at his 
desk, which was loaded with books and documents. 

The speaker who preceded him was Samuel J. Randall 
of Pennsylvania, a Democrat of the old school, who was 
speaker of the House when McKinley entered Congress. 
Randal] had been brought from a sick bed — it soon proved 
to be his death bed - to speak on the bill and against 
certain provisions of it. He was the leader of the now 
reduced wing of protectionists in his party. In a voice at 
times almost inaudible, but still impressive, the great Penn- 
sylvanian labored on, and before he was through, his time 
expired amid cries of "go on." Randall asked for an ex- 
tension, but Mills, with a natural discourtesy, walked to 
the fronl ami shouted, " 1 object." The cry was repeated 
by several Democratic members of extremely low tariff 
persuasion. 

The pallid face of the great Democratic leader was sad 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 199 

as lie sank into his scat, and through the galleries and 
over the House sounded a murmur of disapproval at the 

discourtesy of the Texas ' w tariff reformer" in thus silenc- 
ing one of his own party, and one who had thrice presided 
ever the body as Speaker. In the tumult, the chair an- 
nounced that McKinley had the floor. 

" Mr. Speaker," he cried, and the tumult in the House 
faded into silence; "J yield to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania out of my time all that he may need in which 
to finish his speech on this bill." 

The great throng in the galleries and on the floor broke 
into a mighty cheer; ladies waved their handkerchiefs; the 
tall form of ex-Speaker Randall again appeared above his 
desk. ITe was deeply affected by the generous act, thanked 
McKinley feelingly, and closed his speech. 

If was no wonder that when McKinley rose lie was 
greeted as the favorite of the audience. His long speech 
was listened to with the deepest attention. Every strong 
point he made was followed by spontaneous applause. It 
was one of the most masterly tariff speeches ever heard in 
the historic Capitol. Tie began in a quiet manner, lucidly 
defining a revenue tariff, a protective tariff and their dif- 
ference, and then turned to specific features of the bill, 
pointing out absurdities in if that could not fail to raise a 
laugh to the discomfiture of Alills and his colleagues. At 
one time, holding up an iron rod in his hand, he said: 
"Here is a piece of wire rod drawn from these steel bil- 
lets which finally goes into fencing; this is dutiable at 45 
per cent, under the bill; and the steel from which it is 
made is dutiable at 63 per cent. What do you think of 
" raw material " for our manufacturers \ " 



200 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

He followed this up with a statement of other eases 
to show the shallowness of the "free raw material" pre- 
tensions of the other side, turning the laugh upon the un- 
comfortable majority every time. In ridiculing the 
boasted claim that the bill, which provided free wool, was 
of advantage to the farmers, lie asked what help they would 
obtain. 

" None. They leave the shears he clips his wool with 
at 45 per cent, ad valorem. They make his wool free, and 
then make the farmer pay 45 per cent, for the shears with 
which he (dips his wool. [Laughter.] But that is not 
all. The bell, the sheep bell — if my friend from Massa- 
chusetts (Mr. Russell) is here, if that golden-shod shepherd 
from Worcester is here [laughter and applause] he will 
understand. It is the bell that is put around the neck of 
the sheep to admonish the shepherd of the whereabouts 
of the wandering flock under his charge. ... I 
learn he is now here in his scat; I am glad to see him. He 
knows what 1 am talking about. [Laughter.] They have 
left them dutiable at 45 per cent, ad valorem. Why, even 
the sheep will be ashamed of you, gentlemen." [Laugh- 
ter.] 

Proceeding to the question of "cheaper clothes" — 
one of the boasted claims for the bill, he intentionally and 
successfully drew Congressman Leopold Morse, the Bos- 
ton merchant, and one of the free trade leaders, into a 
trap, to the great enjoyment of his audience and of the 
whole country, when it appeared in the newspapers. Pro- 
ceeding quietly with his speech, McKinley said: 

" The expectation of cheaper clothes is not sufficient to 
justify the action of the majority. This is too narrow for 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 201 

a national issue. Nobody, so far as I have learned, has 
expressed dissatisfaction with the present price of cloth- 
ing. It is a political objection; it is a party slogan. Cer- 
tainly nobody is unhappy over the cost of clothing, except 
those who are amply able to pay even a higher price 
than is now exacted. And besides, if this hill should pass, 
and the effect would be (as it inevitably must be) to destroy 
our domestic manufactures, the era of low prices would 
vanish, and the foreign manufacturer would compel the 
American consumer to pay higher prices than he has been 
accustomed to pay under the " robber tariff," so called. 

Mr. Chairman, I represent a district comprising some 
200,000 people, a large majority of the voters in the dis- 
trict being workingmen. I have represented them for a 
good many years, and I have never had a complaint from 
one of them that their clothes were too high. Have you ? . 
[Applause on the Republican side.] Has any gentleman 
on this floor met with such complaint in his district \ " 

Mr. Morse. They did not buy them of mo. 

Mr. McKinley. iNTo ! Let us see; if they had bought 
of the gentlemau from Massachusetts it would have made 
no difference, and there could have been no complaint. 
Let us examine the matter. 

McKinley here produced a bundle containing a suit of 
clothes, which he opened ami displayed, amid great laugh- 
ter and applause. Turning to Morse, he continued: 
"Come, now, will the gentleman from Massachusetts 
know his own goods ? [Renewed laughter.] We recall, 
Mi". Chairman, that the Committee on Ways and Means 
talked about the laboring man who worked ten days at a dol- 
lar a day, and then went with his ten dollars wages to buy a 



202 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

suit of clothes. It is the old story. It is found in the works 
of Adam Smith. [Laughter and applause on the Republi- 
can side.] I have heard it in this House for ten years past. 
It has served many a free trader. It is the old stoiw, I re- 
peat, of the man who gets a dollar a day for his wages, and 
having worked for the ten days goes to buy his suit of clothes, 
fie believes he can buy it for just ten dollars, but the " rob- 
ber manufacturers " have been to Congress, and have got 
one hundred per cent, put upon the goods in the shape of a 
tariff, and the suit of clothes he finds cannot be bought for 
ten dollars, but he is asked twenty dollars for it, and so he has 
to go hack to ten days more of sweat, ten days more of toil, 
ten days more of wear and tear of muscle and brain to earn 
the ten dollars to purchase the suit of clothes. Then the 
( 'hainiian gravely asks, is not ten days entirely annihilated ? 

'• Now, a gentleman who read that speech or heard it, 
was so touched by the pathetic story that he looked into it, 
and sent me a suit of clothes identical with that described by 
the gentleman from Texas, and he sent me also a bill for it. 
and here is the entire suit; " robber tariffs and taxes and all " 
have been added, and the retail cost is what? dust ten dol- 
lars. | Laughter and applause on the Republican side.] So 
the poor fellow <\no* not have to go back and work ten days 
more lo get that suit of clothes, lie take- the suit with him, 
and pays for it just ten dollars. [ Applause.] But in order 
that (here might be no mistake about it, knowing the honor 
and honesty of the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Morse), he went to his store and bought the suit. [ Laughter 
and cheers on the Republican side. | I hold in my hand 
the bill." 

Mr. Struble. Read it. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 203 

Mr. McKinley (reading) : Boston, May 4, L888. 

J. D. Williams, bought of Leopold Morse & Co., men's, 
youth's, and hoys' clothing, L31 to 137 Washington street, 
corner of Brattle I believe it is. 

Mr. Morse. Yes, Brattle. 

Mr. McKinley (reading) : To one suit of woolen clothes, 
$10. Paid. [Renewed laughter and applause.] And 
now, Mr. Chairman, I never knew of a gentleman engaged 
in this business who sold his clothes without profit. | Laugh- 
ter. | And there is the same ten-dollar suit described by the 
gentleman from Texas that can he bought in the city of Bos- 
ton, can be bought in Philadelphia, in New York, in ( !hi- 
cago, in Pittsburg, anywhere throughout the country, at ten 
dollars retail the whole suit — coat, trousers, and vest — and 
forty per cent, less than it could have been bought in 1860 un- 
der your low tariff and low wages of that period. [Great ap- 
plause.] It is a pity to destroy the sad picture of the gentle- 
man from Texas, which was to be used in the campaign, but 
the truth must be told. But do you know that if it were not 
for protection you would pay a great deal more for these 
clothes ? I do not intend to go into that branch of the ques- 
tion, but I want to give one brief illustration of how the ab- 
sence of American competition immediately sends up the for- 
eign prices, and it is an illustration that every man will re- 
member. My friend from Missouri (Mr. ( /lardy), who sits in 
front of me, will remember it. The Missouri Glass Com- 
pany was organized several years ago for the manufacture 
of coarse fluted glass and cathedral glass. Last November 
the factory was destroyed by fire. Cathedral glass was their 
specialty. Within ten days from the time that splendid 
property was reduced to ashes, the foreign price of cathedral 



204 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

glass advanced twenty-eight per cent, to the American consu- 
mer. [Applause on the Republican side.] Showing that 
whether you destroy the American production by free trade 
or by fire, it is the same thing; the prices go up to the Ameri- 
can consumer, and all you can do is to pay the price the 
foreigner chooses to ask." [Renewed applause.] 

When McKinley sat down there was long and continued 
applause and cries of " vote." Members crowded around to 
congratulate him, and Haskell, who had begged the privi- 
lege of closing the debate for the Republican side, leaned 
over his desk, just back of McKinley's, and grabbing the 
latter's hand enthusiastically exclaimed: 

" Major, I shall speak last, but you, sir, have closed the 
debate." 

It should be said that, severe as McKinley's punishment 
of Leopold Morse was, it engendered no bitterness. Those 
whom he treated with the greatest severity in debate often 
became his firm friends. "When Morse was being driven in 
one of his elegant turnouts to the Capitol one day — a new- 
fangled, very high-wheeled affair — he caught sight of Mc- 
Kinley striding along on the walk and invited him to ride. 
McKinley stopped, glanced at the immense wheels, and, 
without heeding the footman, climbed up over the barrier 
to the seat. 

" McKinley," said Morse, " anyone who saw you get in 
would think you a better Democrat than I." 

"When they came to get out, McKinley found that the 
footman could open an arrangement which allowed of both 
easy exit and entrance to the lofty seat. He enjoyed the 
discovery, and advised Morse as a Democrat to become more 
approachable. 






CHAPTER XVIII. 

A QUESTION OF HONOR — LOYALTY TO JOHN SHERMAN 
IN 1888. 

McKinley Heads the Ohio Delegation to Chicago — Receives 
Marked Attention — Cheered When he Enters the Hall — 
Unmistakable Tide towards Him —The Thrilling Scene on Sat- 
urday — Thrusting Aside the Honor as a Delegate Pledged to 
Sherman — The Tide Turned — His Personal Appeal to 
Various Delegations — Pleading with the Connecticut and New 
Jersey Delegations — Blaine's Final Letter and Harrison's 
Nomination — McKinley Becomes a Leader of the Fifty-first 
Congress — Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee — 
McKinley Gallantly Defends the Quorum Rule on the Floor 
of the House — Preparing the McKinley Bill. 

SHORTLY after the events of the memorable day in 
MoKinley's career, just recorded, he attended the 
Chicago convention as the delegate from Ohio in 
the interests of John Sherman. Four years before, it will 
be remembered, he had been a Blaine delegate, though 
Sherman was the choice of a part of the Ohio men. In 
1888, Blaine, who was then in Europe, had written a letter 
declining to be considered a candidate. Yet, at the ( Mcagi > 
convention he had enthusiastic support. That convention 
was one of the most stirring and memorable in the history 
of the party. McKinley, fresh from the prolonged tariff 
debate, at the close of which ho had made his notable 
speech, w T as one of the most conspicuous men upon the floor. 

(205) 



200 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

He did no1 seek to be such. In fact, his coming in and 
his going (nit seemed to be calculated so as not to attract 
any attention, but every time he entered he was greeted with 
great enthusiasm by the spectators. This man, now in his 
forty-fourth year, who had flung all qualifications to the 
wind and stepped to the front as the champion of protec- 
tion, of and for itself, naturally appealed to the popular 
admiration and enthusiasm. 

The first ballot was cast on June 22d, the leading 
candidates of the nineteen voted for being John Sherman, 
Walter Q. Gresham, Russell A. Alger, and Benjamin Har- 
rison. When Connecticut was reached, early in the roll 
call, there was a vote for McKinley which awoke a quick, 
enthusiastic response from the spectators. On the second 
ballot also a few scattering votes appeared for McKinley, 
and the convention adjourned until the next day, Saturday, 
when three ballots were taken, the votes for McKinley in- 
creasing steadily as the balloting continued, and whenever 
announced were received with growing enthusiasm on 
the floor of the convention and in the galleries. Sherman, 
Harrison, Alger, Allison, and Gresham still continued to 
receive large votes also as leading candidates, but the friends 
of Blaine were pushing him as enthusiastically as ever. It 
was becoming evident that it would be difficult to make a 
choice. There was talk of a stampede for Blaine, but it 
was injudicious. The newspaper correspondents sensed 
thi' situation exactly and suggested that the warring ele- 
ments combine upon some new man like McKinley, who 
was so warmly greeted by the people, so evidently popular 
with them. 

Friday night, and during all the next day, delegates 






LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 207 

from all parts of the country were asking ouch other, " Why 
not nominate McKinley ? " All the Republican Congress- 
men then in Washington, united in a telegram, urging 
McKinley as a splendid solution of the matter, and rumors 
of a break to him were heard from all directions. The 
drift was unmistakable, and McKinley saw it. People 
were expecting to see a repetition of the episode by which 
Garfield was nominated in 1880. It was an exciting mo- 
ment, but as the final roll call on Saturday went on and it be- 
came evident that more and more votes were slipping from 
the other candidates towards McKinley, he leaped upon his 
chair, from his place at the head of the Ohio delegation, 
and demanded recognition. The noise in the convention 
was hushed in an instant. Every eye was turned upon 
him, and in a calm and determined manner he said: 

" Mr. President and Gentlemen: — I am here as one of 
the chosen representatives of my State. I am here by 
resolution of the Republican State convention, passed with- 
out a single dissenting voice, commanding me to cast my 
vote for John Sherman for President, and to use every 
worthy endeavor for his nomination. I accepted the trust 
because my heart and my judgment were in accord with the 
letter and spirit and purpose of that resolution. It has 
pleased certain delegates to cast their votes for me for 
President. I am not insensible to the honor they would 
do me, but in the presence of the duty resting upon me I 
cannot remain silent with honor. I cannot consistently 
with the wish of the State whose credentials I bear and 
which has trusted me; I cannot with honorable fidelity to 
John Sherman, who has trusted me in his cause and with 

his confidence; I cannot, consistently, with my own views of 
13 "' J 



208 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

personal integrity, consent, or seem to consent, to per- 
mit my name to be used as a candidate before this conven- 
tion. I would not respect myself if I could find it in niv 
heart to do so, or permit to be done that which could even 
be ground for anyone to suspect that I wavered in tny 
loyalty to Ohio, or my devotion to the chief of her choice, 
and the chief of mine. I do not request, I demand, that 
no delegate who would not cast reflection upon me shall cast 
a ballot for me." 

The literature of political conventions has seldom, if 
ever, afforded a more dramatic or inspiring incident. Xo 
one doubted his absolute sincerity, or his thorough honesty, 
and, after he had taken his seat, there was no one who did 
not admire the Ohio statesman more than ever, and who 
did not more than ever desire an opportunity to vote for 
him. They believed what he said, and momentarily the 
tide turned and McKinley felt that his plea had been 
heeded. After the third ballot on that exciting day the 
convention adjourned over till Monday. On Sunday it be- 
came apparent that McKinley 's renunciation of any desire 
to be a candidate, his avowal that he should consider his 
candidacy dishonorable and his plea for Senator Sherman 
were not to have the intended effect. Delegations met, 
and, moved by the incidents of the preceding day, decided 
to cast their votes solidly for McKinley, who, meanwhile, 
was doing all he could to secure the nomination of Sherman, 
He heard of the intentions of several of the delegations, and 
went to them promptly in person. 

Going to the Connecticut delegation he pleaded with it 
earnestly, as one delegate said, "almost with tears in his 
eves," that they should relinquish any purpose of casting 






LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 200 

ballots for him. With an Ohio friend, Hon. John Little, 
he then proceeded to the New Jersey delegation, which he 
heard had determined to vote for him on Monday. It was 
just after midnight. He found the chairman of the delega- 
tion, Garret A. Ilobart, an old acquaintance, and now his 
associate on the Republican ticket, and telling him what he 
had heard, asked if it were true. Hobart said that whether 
true or not, it was a matter for the New Jersey delegation 
to determine; that it was accountable only to the Re- 
publicans of New Jersey. McKinley's face flushed for 
a moment, and he said, " I beg your pardon, but the matter 
concerns me also,"' and he felt that it was his right to know 
what the purposes of the delegation were. Mr. Hobart 
told him that since he was so earnest about it, his delegation 
had determined to cast its vote for William McKinley, Jr., 
of Ohio, for President, " from now on to the end, and we 
shall not be alone." Then McKinley asked to see the dele- 
gation, and for three or four minutes he pleaded with them 
to change their purpose, earnestly and in a subdued tone, 
to suit the surroundings and the hour. It was a moment of 
suppressed excitement. Towards the close, as the story 
goes, he raised his right arm, and with that peculiar pallor 
on his face, which comes in moments of earnestness, he said 
that he would rather suffer the loss of that arm than accept 
the nomination, if it were possible, under the circumstances. 
The delegation was deeply moved. He was told that if he 
felt in that way about it, of course they would not vote for 
him. He thanked them profoundly, and then asked, as 
they had so kindly granted his request, that they would do 
him another favor and cast their votes for John Sherman. 
In such manner did McKinley labor that night, going 



210 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

from one delegation to another, to turn the tide which had 
been setting in his direction, and set aside the honor that 
the convention was ready to place upon him. To one who 
suggested that he had done as honorable a thing as the story 
of American politics ever told, McKinley replied: 

" Is it such an honorable thing not to do a dishonorable 
thing ? " 

When the convention met Monday morning McKinley 
was the master of it. Blaine's letter came, reiterating his 
refusal to be a candidate, and the nomination went to Benja- 
min Harrison on the eighth ballot. There were few dele- 
gates in that convention who seriously doubted that if 
McKinley had refrained from protesting with such earnest- 
ness, from working with such zeal to head off the move- 
ment in his favor, he would have been the presidential can- 
didate of that year. Few men, under the circumstances, 
would have avoided the temptation, or even if they had 
desired, as McKinley did, to stop the movement, would 
have labored so earnestly to do so. It was a revelation of 
the character of the Ohio man which thousands of Republi- 
cans stored in their memory while waiting for an oppor- 
tunity to honor the one who had thus shown such a sense 
of honor. 

The Fiftieth Congress continued in session during most 
of the campaign of that year, and McKinley was in demand 
much of the summer as a campaigner. One of his notable 
speeches was the address to the Piedmont Chautauqua 
Association at Atlanta, Georgia, August 21st, which had in- 
vited liini to address a Georgia public upon the subject of 
Protection in the South. He told them that the South had 
shared in the splendid progress made under protective 



LIFE OP WILLIAM McKINLEY. 211 

tariff laws, that a new era of industrial development had 
come to them, and that nothing should be permitted to 
check or retard it. He spoke of the new coal and iron 
mines, and other gifts with which nature had been so 
prodigal, and said that nothing but the South's own folly, 
nothing but blindness to its highest and best interests could 
keep it from the front rank among the industrial sections 
of the country. 

In the second session of the Fiftieth Congress a substi- 
tute for the Mills Bill passed the Senate, and, on January 
26th, was debated in the House and referred to the Com- 
mittee on Ways and Means. McKinley pleaded earnestly 
against this course. He said that if the bill with the Senate 
amendments went to the Committee on "Ways and Means, 
with its Democratic majority, no practical legislation would 
be had at that session of Congress, and any questions of the 
revenues of the government, so pressing as Mills had 
claimed, would continue unsettled. He urged that if the 
House of Representatives met the Senate in free and open 
conference, and those provisions upon which all agreed, 
and could meet on common ground, were adopted, the 
revenues could be reduced from $35,000,000 to $40,000,- 
000, and still preserve for future settlement the general 
policies of taxation respectively adhered to by the two par- 
ties. With fine sarcasm he said, in closing: 

" It is not a theory, it is a condition. Shall we run away 
from the condition which we can in part relieve, or waste our 
valuable time now upon theory ? Shall we reduce the re- 
venues of the government ? We have an opportunity to do 
so and to move in that direction this morning, but if this 
bill goes to the Committee on Ways and Means, mark 



010 LIF13 OF WILLIAM McKIXLKV. 

my word, there will be no practical legislation reached at 
this session of Congress." McKinley's prediction proved 
true. 

The Fiftieth Congress adjourned on the 4th of March, 
1880, when President Harrison was inaugurated, and be 
tween that and the meeting of the Fifty-first, MeKinley 
delivered some notable addresses, particularly the one on 
the American Volunteer Soldier, at the Metropolitan Opera 
House, New York city, on Decoration Day, and Iris cam- 
paign speech at Music Hall, Cleveland, in October, upon 
Protection and Revenue. 

When he entered the Fifty-first Congress it was fresh 
from a vindication from the people. From the moment 
MeKinley left his law practice to enter upon a Congressional 
career, his identity with the protective tariff policy had 
steadily increased, and now in the Fifty-first Congress he 
was logically and pre-eminently the one man for the chair- 
man for the Committee on Ways and Means, and for the 
leader of the House upon the floor. It is a notable fact that 
no Republican sought this important chairmanship over 
McKinley's head, and this demonstrates the feeling existing 
at that time that the Ohio man, by virtue of his grasp of 
tin 1 great problem of the day, was the fitting champion of 
the protectionist's cause in the approaching contest. 

The Fifty-first Congress was Republican in both Senate 
and House, but by a small majority. In the Senate there 
were .'ill Republicans and 37 Democrats, and in the House 

164 Republicans and 1 <> l Democrats. Et seemed futile to 
think of carrying through the House, by such a narrow 
majority, a great measure involving so many interests, and 
it was while MeKinley and his committee were faithfully at 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKlNLEY. 213 

work upon a Cariff lull thai Speaker Reed, with whom, at all 
limes, McKinley was working in perfecl hai.nony, promul- 
gated his famous quorum rule, which was, that members 
of the House who were present during a session, although 
not answering to the roll-call, could he counted to make 
a quorum. It will be remembered that this rule was 
vigorously denounced by the angry Democrats, hut was 
adopted as one of the House rules nevertheless, and was 
enforced throughout Congress. Subsequently, in a test 
case it was derided by the Supreme Court of the United 
States that the rule was valid. In his contest for this rule, 
Speaker Reed had no more valiant supporter than McKinley. 
McKinley said that it was more of a constitutional question 
than a parliamentary one, that he could find no warrant for 
the position taken by Carlisle as to the alleged requirements 
in the Constitution of the United States. The letter of 
that Constitution, he said, does not declare that the majority 
of the House voting shall constitute a quorum; it does not 
declare that the majority of the House of Representatives 
answering to their names upon the roll-call is essential to 
a constitutional quorum; it does not provide in any one of 
its sections how that question of the quorum is to be de- 
termined, how the number of members is to be ascertained. 
It is left to the House, and the House can leave it to the 
Speaker, whose organ he is. 

During this speech he had sharp tilts with Carlisle, 
Crain, Breckinridge, and other Democratic leaders in the 
House, showing- his quickness in retort and the inability oi 
the Democrats to disturb him or get the best of him. Tak- 
ing a suppose* 1 case of twenty men on his side of the chamber 
when a yea and nay vote was called, who should, for any 



214 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

reason sufficient unto themselves, either because they had an 
interest in the measure, or for any other good reason, ask 
to be excused from voting, and were excused, " then," 
asked Mr. McKinley, " would any man claim that those 
twenty gentlemen should not be counted to constitute a 
quorum, although they did not vote ? " 

Mr. Oates. Are they not participating in the proceed- 
ings ? 

Mr. McKinley. I beg pardon. Exactly. They are 
participating, and they are participating no more in the 
proceedings of the House than you were participating 
yesterday [loud applause on the Republican side], the 
only difference being that these twenty men were acting 
in an orderly [laughter and applause], in a lawful and 
parliamentary manner [laughter and applause], and the 
gentlemen on the other side were acting in defiance of the 
law and the orderly conduct of public business. 

Mr. Grain. Being excused, would they be counted % 

Mr. McKinley. Undoubtedly, to make a quorum 
they would be counted; that is the point I make. 

He appealed to the Representatives to be honest with 
each other and with the country, and if bills were defeated 
that they be defeated in a constitutional way. He said: 

c The position of the gentlemen on the other side means 
that they will either rule or ruin, although they are in the 
minority. We insist that while we are in the majority 
they shall do neither. 

Mr. Crisp. If the gentleman has his majority here he 
need not ask us to assist. 

Mr. McKinley. " The gentleman " is not only entitled 
to have his own majority here, but he is entitled to have the 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 215 

legally elected representatives of the people here, and here 
always. [Renewed Applause.] 

Mr. Crisp. In the language of Mr. Blaine, I deny 
utterly that you have any right to say that I shall be present 
or vote, except as the Constitution gives you the right to 
require my attendance. 

Mr. McKinley. I know you deny it, and we are dis- 
cussing whether that denial is right or wrong. That is the 
issue, whether it is true or whether it is false. 

With this question settled, McKinley turned his atten- 
tion to facilitating the introduction of the tariff measure 
which was to bear his name. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

the Mckinley bill — the great measure of the 
fifty-first c< ingress. 

McKinley's Modesty in Speaking of his Own Achievements— His 

Associates Trust him Implicitly — His Belief the Basis (if the 
Act — How it was Framed — No Interest Refused a Hearing 

— Working on Schedules until after Midnight —His Associates 
Marvel at his Bowers of Endurance — A Brilliant Scene on the 
Day he Bresents the Measure — His Speech Listened to with 
the Greatest Attention — Protection a Conviction, Not a 
Theory, with Him — The Passage of the Bill — It Becomes an 
Act — McKinley's Control of the Measure in the House — 
His Able Management of Men — The Question of Reciprocity 

— The Most Harmonious Tariff Act Ever But on the Statutes. 



M 



cKIXLKV alwavs spoke of the great measure of the 
Fifty-first Congress as The Tariff of 1890 : 
the people have always spoken of it as the Me- 
Kinley Bill. The reason is that McKinley is constitution- 
ally and habitually modest and reticent regarding himself 
and his achievements, hut the people have the instinct of 
calling things by their appropriate names, and they are 
keen in fixing, by common consent, credit where it belongs. 
McKinley did not desire to make the hill his own; his am- 
bition was to make it a measure of the Republican party, 
and he did it. lie sought CO-Opera1 ion and welcomed it 
always. Some of his supporters and admirers were able 

(210) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 210 

men, and ho gave them every opportunity they desired to 
show their leadership upon any subject connected with the 
bill, he even expressed his admiration for the assistance 
contributed by his colleagues in that connection. Yet, 
after all, the bill was his — -in its principles, in its details, 
in its phraseology, and in its successful management. Two 
years later, after the Republican defeat of 1SU-J,, when mem- 
bers of his own party were charging the reverses to the tariff 
act, he accepted full responsibility for it. Later, when the 
tide turned and the act was welcomed as an issue by Repub- 
licans, he again spoke of it as The Act of 1800. The 
House of the Fifty-first Congress, it should be remembered, 
was the first Republican House for many years. There was 
an army of men on the Republican side of the House, and 
in the majority of the Committee on Ways and Means, who 
had had comparatively little experience in any constructive 
legislation. 

McKinley, " born within the sound of rolling mills 
and beneath the smoke and flame of furnaces," from 
childhood a student of economic questions, especially as 
involved in American legislation, had demonstrated his ex- 
tensive knowledge, not only of the general principles of 
revenue legislation, but of the relations to trade and com- 
merce of the smallest articles in the tariff schedules. 
Probably no Congressman ever had shown so thorough a 
knowledge of the uses of the various commodities, or of 
the processes by which they entered into manufacture. He 
had pointed out to Mills and his colleagues in the preceding 
Congress facts they had never dreamed of. 

It was, perhaps, fortunate that the majority of the Com- 
mittee on Ways and Means, of which lie was made chair- 






220 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

man, contained no specialists men of one idea, who are 
usually dangerous. It was certainly fortunate that they 
depended constantly upon his knowledge, and trusted im- 
plicitly in his judgment. The larger principles involved 
in the measure, such as related to the administrative feat- 
ures, the mathematical calculations upon the industrial and 
commercial effect of various changes, and their effect upon 
federal revenue, were derived from him. His belief 
formed the basis upon which the measure rested; his spirit 
was the inspiration of the whole act. 

How and when did he do it all ? The room of the 
Committee on Ways and Means at the Capitol, and his 
little office at the Ebbitt House were the liveliest workshops 
in Washington during the Fifty-first Congress. The in- 
dustry of framing the bill ran day and night, into the small 
hours. The ( Committee met in its room at the Capitol to hear 
all who wished t<> be heard on the bill, manufacturers, labor- 
ers, importers, free traders, and protectionists. The Mc- 
Kinley Bill was no "closed door" affair. Not a single 
interest, asking to be heard, was refused, in significant con- 
trast to the way in which the Mills bill had been framed, and 
to the way in which the YVilson-( lorman act was secretly doe- 
tored and concocted later. At the very beginning McKinley 
announced that he would listen to the testimony of any of 
the great interests of the country until the bill was finally 
passed. So frank and open was he in his work that the 
business of the country continued in a feeling of absolute 
security. There was no distrust, and rumors could not be 
used in Wall Street to shake the foundations of finance 
or frighten commercial and businessmen. Wheels turned, 
and looms hummed with no interruption. 









LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 221 

Only a pari of the work was done in the Committee 
room. Those who worked with him, and those who were in 
;i position to know, assert that they saw him nightly in his 

room go over schedule alter schedule, changing them here 
and I here, and adapting each to the interests it was designed 
to meet. There were more visitors to McKinley's quarters 
every evening, it is said, than any day to the Committee 
room at the Capitol. Every representative of an interest 
affected by that Legislation felt that his mission had not been 
accomplished until a personal interview had been secured 
with the Representative who was to advocate the principles 
of protection on the floor and defend the measure against 
the assaults of its enemies. 

Of course, there were many who went to Washington to 
secure changes which were not needed and would not have 
been wise. They found in McKinley a man who could not 
he caught by plausible arguments. If he thought they were 
selfishly demanding more than the prosperity of their in- 
dustry required, he carefully examined the matter to make 
sure of it, and having made himself sure of it, he directed 
his examination to the question as to what the industry re- 
quired to be prosperous, not what the man required to he 
rich. His purpose was to secure the greatest good to the 
greatest number, and he was as just to his political enemies 
as to his political friends in this respect. 

It is related that a manufacturer, a Democrat, sought 
him in his rooms and said to him, " ]\Ir. McKinley, I have 
been to my member in the House, who is a Democrat like 
myself, to have him help me get a hearing before your Com- 
mittee. I have been to my Senator, who is a Democrat, 
and I have been to others, and they have all failed me. I 



222 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

have come directly to you. J have no claim upon you, but 
I want to ask the privilege of presenting my case." 

McKinley sat down with the man until midnight, listen- 
ing to his exposition, searching books and the precedents, 
scrutinizing the schedules, and at last said to the manu- 
facturer, who was a stranger to him, " Your claim is just. 
I thank you for bringing my attention to it. We should 
have erred if we had left this schedule as it is. I will see 
that it is changed." 

Never, until midnight, was McKinley at liberty to get 
a breath of fresh air, and often long after that hour did he 
sit in his room poring over manuscripts, with piles of 
papers on his table, surrounded by books of reference and 
assisted by his secretaries. These young men were worked 
to such an extent that they marveled at the endurance of 
their chief. Besides all this, during the hitter part of the 
time, McKinley had to answer all sorts of questions in the 
prolonged debate, and defend all sorts of changes in the 
schedules. He was never found to be in doubt or uncer- 
tainty as to any feature of the measure. 

It is recalled that whenever an attack came from the 
Democratic side upon any particular item in the schedules, 
it was generally McKinley who rose to reply. Occasionally 
he would indicate another member of the Committee, 
who, he said, had given special attention to that matter, 
but in nearly every case it was McKinley himself who had 
given the special attention. His explanations were always 
clear, and left no uncertainty upon either side of the House, 
lie was acquainted with every technicality in the bill, as the 
long debate showed, and his familiarity with a subject so 
full of intricacies caused his acquaintances, as well as those 



LIFE Or WILLIAM McKINLBT. 223 

who did not know at what a sacrifice his personal knowledge 

had been obtained, to marvel at the mind of the man. He 
did not consider it a sacrifice, for to McKinley, study is quite 
as much a passion as patriotism. 

E. Jay Edwards, the well-known Washington corre- 
spondent, recently wrote "If McKinley had been seen by 
the American people when he was engaged in acquiring 
and applying knowledge, he would have been discovered in 
his committee rooms, sometimes eight or ten horn's a day, 
or in consultation with his committee at his private rooms 
often until long past midnight. He would have been seen 
exploring the mysteries of chemistry, reading the reports 
of trade associations, sometimes with great volumes massed 
up before him, through which he searched with the pene- 
trating industry of one who compiles history; and, in 
addition to these duties, was his occupation upon the floor of 
the House. Such labor as this is exceeded by no lawyer 
preparing briefs, no physician making research into dis- 
ease, no merchant in his counting-room, and it puts to the 
highest test the industry of a man for dreary drudgery. 
The maker of a tariff bill, the faithful member of a Ways 
and Means Committee, whether he be a protectionist or 
the opposite, knows his country and has his finger upon the 
pulse which beats with the material energy of the world." 

Such is a picture of McKinlev, as the maker of the 
tariff bill from the opening of the Fifty-first Congress in 
December to the introduction of the bill from the com- 
mittee on April 16th, and then on to May 21st, when it was 
passed by a vote of 164 to 140. 

That day in May, on which the bill came up for debate, 

there was another notable occasion in the House of Repre- 
14 



224 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

sentatives. The galleries were thronged, as they had been 
on the day when McKinley made his great speech against 
the .Mills bill in a preceding Congress, and when McKinley 
arose and walked down the centre aisle from which to speak, 
every eye in the House was upon him, and the newspaper 
reader will remember that the telegraph keys clicked the 
story to all parts of the world. 

His speech was a plain, concise statement of the reasons 
for the bill and of the principles on which it was framed, 
and of the changes that had been made. It was in no way 
so marked an oratorical effort as his speech against the Mills 
bill, yet, it was followed with intense interest by his great 
audience. He marshaled his facts, adapted them to differ- 
ent schedules, making the figures speak for themselves, and 
then closed with a summary of the effects of protection, and 
drew contrasting pictures of the different effects produced 
upon the country by the opposite policies. 

" We have now enjoyed twenty -nine years continu- 
ously of protective tariff laws — the longest uninterrupted 
period in which that policy has prevailed since the formation 
of the Federal government — and we find ourselves, at the 
end of that period, in a condition of independence and pros- 
perity, the like of which has never been witnessed at any 
other period in the history of our country, and the like of 
which has no parallel in the recorded history of the world. 
In all that goes to make a nation great and strong and 
independent we have made extraordinary strides. In arts, 
in science, in literature, in manufactures, in invention, 
in scientific principles applied to manufacture and agricult- 
ure, in wealth and credit, and national honor, we are at the 
very front, abreast with the best and behind none. . . . We 






LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 22o 

have a surplus revenue and a spotless credit. . . . To 
reverse this system means to stop the progress of the repub- 
lie, and reduce the masses to small rewards for their labor, 
to longer hours and less pay, to the simple question of bread 
and butter. It means to turn the masses from ambition, 
courage, and hope, to dependence, degradation, and despair. 
Talk about depression — we would then have it 
in its fullness. . . Everything would, indeed, be cheap 
— but how costly when measured by the degradation that 
would ensue. When merchandise is the cheapest, men 
are the poorest; and the most distressing experiences in tin- 
history of our country — aye, in all human history — have 
been when everything was the lowest and cheapest measured 
by gold, for everything was the highest and the dearest 
measured by labor. We want no return of cheap times in 
our own country. We have no wish to adopt the conditii >ns 
of other nations. Experience has demonstrated that for us 
and ours, and for the present and the future, the protective 
system meets our wants, our conditions, promotes the na- 
tional design, and will work out our destiny better than any 
other. With me this position is a deep conviction — not a 
theory. I believe in it, and thus warmly advocate it be- 
cause enveloped in it are my country's highest development 
and greatest prosperity; out of it come the greatest gains 
to the people, the greatest comforts to the masses, the widest 
encouragement for manly aspirations with the largest re- 
wards, dignifying and elevating our citizenship, upon which 
the safety and purity and permanency of our political system 
depends. [Long-continued applause on the Republican 
side and cries of " Vote," " Vote."] 

In his control of the bill, all through the debate, Mc- 



226 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Kinley revealed tlic highest qualities as a leader, and in the 
management of men who were deeply impressed, not simply 
by Ins strong convictions, but by his marvelous knowledge 
of the subject. If they could not depend upon him, who 
was there upon whom they could depend ? Never before, 
probably, had a measure making such radical changes 
and of such sweeping influence gone through the House 
without the frequent and severe application of the party 
whip. The Republican majority was very small, yet 
McKinley saw his whole party in the House rally under 
his leadership with no treachery in the ranks. Solidly, 
harmoniously, enthusiastically, did the Republican party 
enter into the struggle on all important measures, not 
only for protection, but against unsound money, for the 
quorum rule, for the federal election bill, against the 
anti-civil-service resolution, and in all other matters that 
came up while McKinley was the leader upon the floor, 
though he was to all appearances thoroughly absorbed in the 
tariff question. 

A few days after the bill passed the House it was re- 
ported in the Senate, where, with some amendments, it 
passed on Sept. 10'tli by a vote of 40 to 29. The amend- 
ments were not concurred in by the House and the bill went 
to a Committee of Conference between the two Houses. 
After ten days of careful consideration, in which McKinley 
maintained his position in all important matters, the Com- 
mittee reported on Sept. 26th. The final vote was, in the 
Senate, yeas 33, nays 27; in the House, yeas 152, nays 81. 
It was promptly signed by President Harrison and took 
effed on October 6, L890. 

Besides the radical changes in the schedules and in the 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 227 

administrative provisions, the l>ill contained an entirely 
new feature called the " reciprocity clause," the credil for 
which has been generally given to -James ( !. Blaine, and, un- 
questionably, in a large degree, with justice. McKinley did 
not seek to take unto himself the credit for anything that did 
not belong to him. In his speech introducing the hill, he 
said that he would leave the subject of reciprocity and tin 1 
propriety of treaties and commercial arrangements to the 
" illustrious man who presides over the State department of 
this administration, and to my distinguished friend, the 
chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in this 
House." But, it is not true, as has been claimed, that 
McKinley opposed the reciprocity feature. He was deeply 
and almost exclusively interested, of course, in the re- 
arrangement of the duties so as to reduce the revenues by 
insuring the largest degree of protection to the country's 
industries consistent with sufficient revenue, but he was also 
interested in the policy of reciprocity, or in any plan for the 
enlargement of our commerce upon a fair and equitable 
basis. He did not believe in a reciprocity in which the 
United States was always to be the loser. 

William E. Curtis, Secretary of the Bureau of Ameri- 
can Republics, and for many years close to Mr. Blaine, 
stated in an interview upon the subject in 1891, when the 
Democrats were claiming that McKinley was opposed to 
reciprocity, that Mr. I Maine had asked that there be no dis- 
turbance of duties on merchandise from South America, a 
suggestion which the Ways and Means Committee did noi 
follow. 

"When Mr. Blaine found." said Mr. Curtis, -that it 
was proposed to remove the duty on sugar, he sent me to 



228 LIFE OP WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 

McKinley with a proposition which he wanted added to 
the bill as an amendment. It afterwards became known as 
the Hale Amendment. It provided that the President 
should be authorized to take the duty off sugar, when- 
ever the sugar-producing nations removed their duties on 
our farm products and certain other articles. Mr. McKinley 
presented this amendment to the Committee on Ways and 
Means, and it was not adopted. Mr. McKinley voted for it 
the first time it was presented. Then a second proposition, 
containing some modifications, was presented, and Mr. 
McKinley voted for that as he voted for the Blaine reci- 
procity amendment every time it was submitted and in 
whatever form. It has been currently reported that Mr. 
Blaine denounced the McKinley bill with such vigor that 
he smashed his hat. Mr. Blaine's opposition to the bill was 
because of the free sugar clause." 

" When what was known as the Aldrich Amendment 
was adopted, Mr. Blaine was perfectly satisfied, and there is 
nothing in the current tales that he is unfriendly to Mc- 
Kinley. On the contrary, lie is one of his warmest friends. 
Had it not been for Mr. McKinley and Senator Aldrich of 
Rhode Island the reciprocity clause in the tariff act would 
never have been adopted." 

The McKinley bill, as passed, was without doubt the 
most complete, thorough, harmonious, and American tariff 
law that was ever framed in Congress. It was framed after 
careful calculation with reference to the prosperity of the 
business of the country. Of the changes it made and of 
the discussion which took place over those changes and the 
manner in which the bill was denounced by its enemies, and 
commended by its friends, it is not necessary to speak. It 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 229 

was a greal victory for Major McKinlcy. It was of the 
greatest benefit to the industry of the people, and to the 
bommeree of the country. 

It was in the middle of his busy Congressional year, 
after his great measure had passed the House, and while it 
was in the Senate, that McKinley was called to face a great 
sorrow 7 . His eldest sister, Annie, she who had exercised so 
marked an influence upon his early years, who had been a 
devoted and self-sacrificing sister always, and who had fol- 
lowed his successful career with pride and unshaken faith, 
died July 29, 1890. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE CONGRESSIONAL DEFEAT OF 1890 — McKINLEY'S 
FAITH UNSHAKEN. 

The Last Democratic Gerrymander to " Down " McKinley — The 
Democratic Gibraltar of the State Attached to his District — 
Defeat of McKinley the only Hope of Tariff Reform — 
McKinley Accepts the Nomination against Great Odds — 
Never Withdraws from his Party or its Principles — His 
Speech of Acceptance — A Campaign of National Interest — 
A Democratic Vote-Getter Opposed to Him — David B. Hill 
and Others Stump the District — The Democratic Majority 
Whittled Down — Days of Waiting — Jubilant Democrats and 
Free Traders Hooting and Jeering in Front of McKinley's 
Office — McKinley Calm and Unmoved — Some Republicans 
Waver in their Faith — McKinley's Editorial — " Protection 
was never Stronger than at this Hour." 

W TITLE McKinley was devoting his untiring ener- 
gies to the construction of a tariff for the protec- 
tion of American industries, and for the pros- 
perity of the country, the Democrats, who had again 
conic into possession of the Ohio Legislature, were 
devoting their energies to another gerrymander, and 
they proposed this time to make absolutely certain of 
keeping McKinley out of Congress, if such a thing 
were possible. The word had gone forth from anti- 
protection headquarters everywhere that free trade could 
not succeed until McKinley had been soundly beaten and 

(230) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 231 

prevented from troubling the Washington tariff reformers. 
During his Congressional career, the Democrats had fas- 
tened to his home county, Stark, about every strongly Dem- 
ocratic county within reach. Representing four counties 
at each apportionment, he had, in the course of his Congres- 
sional career up to 1890, represented nine different coun- 
ties — in 1876, Stark, Mahoning, Columbiana, and Carroll; 
in 1878 and 1880, Stark, Wayne, Ashland, and Portage; in 
L882, Stark, Mahoning, Columbiana, and Carroll again; 
and in 1884-88, Stark, Summit, Medina, and Wayne. 

But there was one county, Holmes, a corner of which 
touched Stark on the southwest, that had been a Democratic 
Gibraltar for years. It is a rather wild, untraversed bit of 
Ohio, hilly and secluded, a large part of whose inhabitants, 
even if they had heard of the war, had thought very little 
about it. It voted over two to one against Grant, and gave 
Hayes, an Ohio son, when candidate for President, only 
1,241 to 3,171 for Tilden. Owing to the remoteness and 
inaccessibility of some of the towns, the county's vote was 
always slow in coming to hand, but it could always be cal- 
culated upon for about 2,000 Democratic majority. Up to 
L890, the Democrats had apparently been confident of de- 
feating McKinley by attaching to his home county two or 
three lesser Democratic strongholds, reserving Holmes to 
counterbalance strong Republican counties in other adjoin- 
ing districts. But McKinley had overcome, to their sur- 
prise and chagrin, all these obstacles, and the only thing for 
them to do was to put Holmes county in his district with 
other Democratic counties, even if by the sacrifice they lost 
two or three congressmen elsewhere. 

So when McKinley came to run for Congress again 



232 IAFK OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

in 1890, he found his district consisted of Stark, Holmes, 
Medina, and Wayne counties, which the year before had 
given Campbell, the Democratic candidate for Governor, 
an aggregate majority of about 2,900, the normal majority 
being over o,000. To even the bravest public man, such 
odds much have appeared to offer only a forlorn hope, not 
worth the struggle, but McKinley in the war never drew 
back from a battle for his country, and in public life he 
never drew back from a struggle for his party or its princi- 
ples. In accepting the nomination unanimously offered 
him at the Republican convention at Orrville, August 26, 
1890, while the McKinley bill was still in the works at 
Washington, he said: 

" I turn to the new district and its faithful Republicans 
with hope and courage, and with a resolute purpose to join 
in bearing to the front the flag of our faith, and in resisting 
every assault upon the principles which are so essential to 
the nation's growth and prosperity. It cannot be said that 
the new district is altogether new. We are not total 
strangers, although the counties constituting the district 
arc for the first time in the history of the State brought into 
Congressional relations. With one of the counties — that 
of Stark — I have been identified in all the political changes 
of the last two decades, for even a Democratic Legislature 
has not yet been able to separate me from my home county, 
where all the years of my manhood have been spent, and 
where most that is near and dear to me in memory and as- 
sociation is to be found; nor are Wayne and Medina strangers 
t<> each other, or to me, in political association. Wayne has 
been twice in the district T have had tin 1 honor to represent 
- in 1878 and again in 1884; in which latter year Medina 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. S-Y.', 

was also associate*! in the same Congressional district. Thes • 
were memorable years — each memorable in this, that a 
Democratic Legislature had carved <>ut the district for a 
Democratic triumph, which, after one of the most notable 
local contests in the State, was happily and gloriously turned 
into a Republican victory. Nor are we strangers to Holmes 
bounty. The little hand of enthusiastic Republicans of that 
Democratic stronghold are known the State over as faith- 
ful and unwavering in their devotion to the Republican 
party and to Republican principles." 

Nothing, he said, remained but to meet the Democrats 
and join issue upon the field they had chosen — chosen for 
partisan advantage. Then he entered upon a short discus- 
sion of the work of the Fifty-first Congress up to that date. 

McKinley entered into the contest as he did into all his 
struggles, with all his might, but much of the time he was 
compelled to be at Washington. The contest assumed a na- 
tional importance, and its progress was chronicled in the 
daily papers throughout the country — and in foreign coun- 
tries. The National committees of both parties took the 
greatest interest in the contest. The Democratic National 
committee practically assumed control of the Democratic 
canvass. It was recognized as a desperate fight to down the 
champion of protection, and the whole world looked on and 
admired as McKinley gallantly entered into the contest 
against such enormous odds. The Democratic committee 
sent David B. Hill of New York and other men of promi- 
nence in the party, into the district to speak against Mc- 
Kinley and for J. G. Warwick, the Democratic candidate, 
who was popular, and supposed to be able to poll the full 
Democratic vote. 



234 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Meanwhile, by October 1st, the McKinley bill became a 
law, and the Democrats everywhere, and nowhere so zeal- 
ously as in McKinley 's district, entered upon a campaign 
of misrepresentation, charging that the law had produced a 
great increase in the prices of articles which the consumers 
were compelled to purchase. They resorted to such schemes 
as engaging peddlers to go through the counties offering five- 
cent tin cups and plates at twenty-five cents each, saying that 
they were compelled to charge so much because of the Mc- 
Kinley bill. The Republicans accepted the challenge of- 
fered by their opponents and put the burden of proof upon 
the Democrats, but they simply retaliated by marching 
around and declaring that everything cost more because of 
the McKinley bill. Every man of business knew the absurd- 
ity and the falsity of the charge, but it produced for a while 
its effect upon people easily affected, even by fictions, if 
relating to their pocket-books. 

After election day, everyone turned to see how McKin- 
ley had prospered. As usual, the returns from Holmes 
county were slow in coming in. For two days the result 
hung in the balance. McKinley had carried the other three 
counties, greatly reducing the Democratic vote, and every- 
thing depended upon Holmes. Tt appeared that, with any- 
thing like the normal majority in Holmes county, McKinley 
musl have been badly beaten; but when finally the last re- 
turns had come in, it was found that the normal Democratic 
majority in the whole district of over 3,000 had been 
whittled down to 302. All over the country elsewhere 
the Democrats had made large gains. The wild cry against 
McKinley prices, although the bill had been in force only 
about a month, produced its effect. Other things com- 






LIFE OF WILLIAM McKltiLEY. 235 

bined to turn the tide against the Republicans. The suc- 
cess of the new Democratic gerrymander of Ohio from a 
Democratic point of view is seen from the fact that the Re- 
publicans elected only seven out of the twenty-one represen- 
tatives, although their combined vote for Congressmen ex- 
ceeded the combined Democratic vote for Congressmen 
throughout the State by about 20,000. Ju no part of the 
Union was the tariff battle so squarely fought as in Ohio, 
and the fact that the State was carried on a popular vote 
of 20,000 was in no wise discouraging. 

But people did not stop to think of that. They looked to 
the defeat of McKinley and the election of another Demo- 
cratic House. Many Republicans began to doubt whether 
MeKinley's theory of protection was wise or not. He was 
at Canton, where the greatest excitement prevailed on elec- 
tion day, and for two days after. The broad, main street 
of the place was crowded day and night with excited people 
from that section of the country, anxious to hear the returns 
from the district, and impatiently waiting for the vote of 
Holmes county. The Democrats grew very joyful and jubi- 
lant, and the Republicans could be seen here and there shak- 
ing their heads. At last, the second day after the election, 
McKinley's defeat was assured. The streets were crowded, 
and Democratic cheers and hurrahs were going up on every 
side. Thousands of exulting Democrats were parading 
about, yelling and jeering as they gathered outside the Mc- 
Kinley block, where McKinley was sitting in his office re- 
ceiving returns. Editor George B. Frease, of the Canton 
Repository, was in doubt, what course to pursue in his paper. 
Making his way through the crowd, he went to the McKin- 
ley block, and to McKinley's office. 



23(3 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 

" Major," lie said, " what shall we say ? " Mr. Frease 
was a young man, just beginning his career as an editor, and 
a man in whom McKinley had taken the deepest interest. 

" Come with me," said McKinley, and he passed into a 
little back room of the block, which had been used for years 
as a sort of storeroom. Books, papers, piles of Congressional 
reports and speeches, packages of Congressional seeds, lay 
all about, covered with dust. The place was lighted only 
by a small skylight overhead, on which the dust had settled 
and long remained undisturbed. McKinley picked up a 
dusty old Congressional report of some kind, and turning to 
the blank leaf began to write rapidly, resting his foot upon a 
pile of rubbish and the book upon his knee, while the Dem- 
ocratic crowd could be heard yelling and cheering outside. 

" Shall I get a lamp ?" said Frease. McKinley shook 
his head, and in a few minutes handed the written page to 
Frease, and this is what he had written : 

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF. 

" Protection was never stronger than it is at this hour. 
And it will grow in strength and in the hearts of the peo- 
ple. It has won in every contest before the people, from the 
beginning of the government. 

" It is a significant historical fact that whenever there lias 
been a well-defined battle in this country between protection 
and revenue tariff, protection has triumphed. It will al- 
ways be so, so long as we have a free ballot. 

' The elections this year were determined upon a false 
issue. A conspiracy between importers, many of whom 
were not oven citizens of the United States, and the free 
traders of this country, to raise prices, and charge it upon 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 237 

the McKinley bill, was successful. But conspiracies are 
short lived, and soon expire. This one has already been 
laid bare, and the infamy of it will still further appear. 
Merchants are already advertising, now that the election is 
over, to sell at even lower prices than before the passage of 
the McKinley bill. The trick has won this time. The 
conspiracy has triumphed. But the people who have been 
duped will not forget. Xor will the friends of protection 
lower their flag or raise the British flag. The result this 
year is but history repeating itself. Every great measure 
for the benefit of the people and the country, passed im- 
mediately before an election, has been temporarily disas- 
trous to the party responsible for it. 

" The proclamation of emancipation, the XIV and XV 
amendments to the Constitution, measures of incalculable 
value to mankind, measures of justice and right, giant steps 
for humanity, were followed by disaster for the time, to 
the party in power. So with every great measure which 
time alone can vindicate. Passion and prejudice, ignor- 
ance and willful misrepresentation are masterful for the 
hour against any great public law. But the law vindicates 
itself, and a duped and deceived public reverse their de- 
cree, made in the passion of the hour. 

" So will it be with the tariff law of 1800. Increased 
prosperity, which is sure to come, will outrun the maligner 
and villifier. Reason will be enthroned, and none will suf- 
fer so much as those who have participated in misguiding a 
trusting people. Keep up your courage. Strengthen your 
organizations and be ready for the great battle in Ohio in 
1801, and the still greater one in 1802. Tlome and country 
will triumph in the end. Their enemies, whether here or 



238 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

abroad, will never be placed in permanent control of the 
government of Washing-ton, of Lincoln, and of Grant." 

That was a notable exhibition, and not the only one in 
his career, of his sublime faith in the righteousness of pro- 
tection as a principle and in its eventual triumph over all 
adversities. While other men were wavering, McKinley 
wavered not for a moment. lie had said in closing his de- 
bate on the tariff bill that protection was a conviction with 
him, not a theory; and with the blood of the Covenanters 
running in his veins, he was not likely to be shaken, even by 
an upheaval that affected those about him. This is the first 
time he ever spoke of the tariff act of 1890 as the McKinley 
Bill. In defeat he was willing to take all the responsibility 
for it. He had faith that the time would come when others 
w T ould gladly share it. And it did. 



CHAPTER XXL 

ELECTED GOVERNOR IN 1891 — McKINLEY COULD NOT 
BE DOWNED. 

McKinley Returns to Washington — His Defeat Really a Victory 
—Regarded as a Hero rather than a Victim — Keeping up the 

Cry about "McKinley Prices" — His Reply to President 
Cleveland Concerning " Cheapness " — The Tariff Reformer 
Uncovered — Campaign Prices Convicted as Campaign Lies — 
Republican Sentiment Turns to William McKinley as a Can- 
didate for Governor — Demand for an Open Air Nomination by 
Acclamation — A Notable Convention — Foraker's Speech — 
McKinley's Speech in Accepting — The Campaign Opened — 
Reviews the Parade from the Torch of the House in which He 
was Born — Discussing the Financial Issues — The Success 
of the McKinley Bill — Prosperity of the Country— McKinley's 
Majority over 20,000 — The Jollification at Canton. 

SOOX after his defeat for Congress McKinley returned 
to his duties at Washington, the second session of the 
Fifty-first Congress convening in December. His 
defeat made no change in his manners or in his habits of 
work. Really, his defeat was a victory, and in the eyes, 
even of his political enemies, he was more of a civic hero than 
a victim. Many invitations came to him to speak at meetings, 
political or otherwise. On December 22, 1800, he delivered 
an address on Xew England and the Future, at the New Eng- 
land dinner at the Continental Hotel, Philadelphia. 
With some New England blood in his own veins he could 
15 (239 ) 



240 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

readily enter into the New England spirit. " New Eng- 
land character, and New England civilization," he said, 
" course through every vein and artery of the republic, 
and if the New Englanders are not everywhere found, their 
light illumines the pathway of our progress, and their aims 
and ideas permeate and strengthen our whole political 
structure." 

Meanwhile, the Democrats everywhere were jubilant 
over the recent turn of the tide in their favor; more than 
all at the " crushing defeat," as they termed it, of McKinley. 
Gratified with the first success of their loud clamor concern- 
ing " McKinley prices," they kept it up by all available 
devices. Cleveland made an anti-McKinley tariff speech 
in Columbus that winter, and at the Lincoln banquet of the 
Ohio Kepublican League, at Toledo, February 12, 1891, 
McKinley made a reply which deserves to live, as it will, 
as a convincing vindication of the patriotic American 
economic policy. Assigned to respond to the inspiring 
sentiment, American Citizenship, Cleveland had made 
" cheapness " the theme of his discourse, had counted it 
among the highest aspirations of American life, and among 
other things he said: 

" When the laboring men are borne down with burdens 
greater than they can bear and are made the objects of scorn 
by hard task-masters, we will not leave their side." 

" Can any man," said McKinley, " familiar with the 
history of his own country, believe that such an utterance 
was made in soberness and good faith by a leader of the 
Democratic party — a party which has imposed the only 
involuntary tasks and burdens ever borne by American 
citizens; which for nearly three-quarters of a century kept 






LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 241 

the labor of almost one-half of the great country in slavery, 
bought and sold as chattels, and which repeatedly, by the 
enactment of free trade tariffs, undertook to place in in- 
dustrial slavery the other half; which strove by every 
possible means to dedicate her vast public domain, not to 
free labor but to slave labor, and which now offensively 
denies to labor in one section of the country the use of the 
ballot, which is the free man's defense against wrong and 
oppression ? " . . . " Cheap coats," he added, "at 
any price, at any sacrifice, even to the robbery of labor, are 
not the chief objects of American civilization, and to make 
them so is neither praiseworthy nor patriotic, nor does such 
a sentiment represent a noble aim in American life. We 
scorn cheap coats upon any such terms or conditions." 

Again he said, " I have not failed to observe — nor 
have you — that the men who have their money unem- 
ployed in productive enterprises complain most of taxation, 
and usually pay the least. Their capital is not in active 
business. It is secure from the panics and financial difficul- 
ties which now and then sweep over the country. When 
lands go down, their loans go up. The depression of 
prices and wages only serves to increase the value of their 
money and mortgages. l Theirs is the capital,' as Cardinal 
Man n ing puts it, ' which pays no taxes and gives no charity ; 
laid up in secret and barren of all good to the owner or his 
neighbor.' The fiscal policy of our nation is not fashioned 
for such as these. It is broader, more rational, and more 
humane. The poor, and also the enterprising, must have 
some care and consideration. To them we must look for 
our prosperity. Upon their intelligence and welfare rest 
the permanence and purity of our institutions. They are 



242 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

tlie strength and the pillars of the republic. . . . The 
tariff reformer has at last, in his wild ecstasy over a so- 
called victory, been betrayed into the avowal of his own 
design. He believes that poverty is a blessing to be pro- 
moted and encouraged, and that a shrinkage in the value 
of everything but money is a national benediction. He no 
longer conceals his love for cheap merchandise, even though 
it entails the beating down of the price of labor and curtails 
the comforts and opportunities of the masses. He has 
uncovered at last. He would make the cheapest articles 
of comfort and necessity dearer to the poor, for he would 
diminish the rewards of their labor." 

Proceeding then to a discussion of the effects of the Mc- 
Kinley act, he closed by saying: " Campaign prices have 
already been convicted as campaign lies. New industries 
are being founded; others now established are enlarging 
their capacity. Idle mills are being started. The only 
menace to our advancement and prosperity, to our wage 
earners and farming interests, is the party which is pledged 
to the repeal of the new law and the substitution of the 
British system in its place." 

McKinley was enthusiastically welcomed at New York 
April 10th, when he responded to the toast, The Tribune 
and the Cause of American Protection, at the fiftieth 
anniversary of the founding of the New York Tribune, at 
the Metropolitan Opera house. On Decoration Day he 
addressed the Canton Post, No. 25, G. A. R, at Canton, 
speaking particularly of the pensions and the public debt, 
and showing that the Republican party had paid off the 
greater pari of the public debt left by the war, and reduced 
the annual interest to $27,000,000, as against $143,781,000 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 248 

in 18G7. It will be observed," he said, " that the two 
items of pensions and interest on the public debt in 1892 are 
less than the two items were in 18G7. The government 
has almost extinguished its debt to the bondholders, 
stamped out every suggestion of repudiation of that debt, 
and it proposes now to keep faith with its other sacred 
creditors — the soldiers and sailors who saved the nation. 
The soldiers waited for their pensions, patiently waited, 
patriotically waited, while the government was struggling 
under the mighty burden of money debt incurred by the 
war. They stood firmly for the payment of that debt; 
they resisted every form of repudiation under any guise. 
They had saved the country in war; they helped to keep 
its financial honor free from stain in peace. The great 
war debt is almost paid. Who shall say that the other 
government obligation shall not be as sacredly kept ? Pen- 
sions are less expensive than standing armies, and attest 
the gratitude of a free and generous people." 

The moment McKinley's defeat for Congress in 1890 
became known the Republican sentiment of Ohio unani- 
mously sought him as the candidate for governor in the 
following year. AVhen the subject was broached to Mc- 
Kinley, he said that he would feel highly honored by the 
nomination, yet he would enter into no contest for it. It 
was not necessary. Only one name was mentioned for 
the head of the ticket. 

Before the convention met at Columbus there was a 
popular demand upon the Republican leaders to have the 
nomination take place by acclamation, in open air, on the 
east terrace of the State house, where, twenty-eight years 
before, gruff old John Brough had been nominated by 



244 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

acclamation as the second war governor of the State. 
Senator Sherman, and in fact, all the Republicans, favored 
the idea, if it could be carried out. But it was found that 
the committee had no authority to call the convention in 
such a way, so it was held in the Grand Opera honse, and 
was one of the most enthusiastic conventions Ohio ever 
held. Senator Sherman was chairman. Governor Foraker 
placed McTvinley in nomination in one of his brilliant 
speeches, in which he said: 

" One man there is, who, measured by the exigencies of 
this occasion, stands a full head and shoulders above all his 
comrades, and that man is William McKinley. There are 
many reasons why he should be nominated. In the first 
place, everybody knows him. lie does not need any intro- 
duction anywhere. Every Republican in Ohio not only 
knows him, but, what is better, every Republican in Ohio 
loves him. That is not all. Every Democrat in Ohio 
knows him, and every Democrat in Ohio fears him. His 
name is a household word throughout the nation and 
throughout the whole world. Wheresoever civilization 
exists, it has become known. In the next place, he is true 
and tried, and no experiment. He has been a long time 
in public service. He began thirty years ago. He started 
in with Abraham Lincoln. He commenced the 11th day of 
June, L861, when he enlisted as a private in the Twenty- 
third Ohio. He began as a private, and, by bravery in 
many bloody battles, he came out as a major in his regiment 
when the last armed rebel had surrendered. No Republi- 
can candidate has ever suffered defeat through fault of 
William McKinley. There is not one single drop of cut- 
throat blood in his veins. lie is morally incapable* of the 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 245 

treachery and cowardice of political assassination. lie 
don't know what a political razor is, and has only contempt 
for the sneaking, hypocritical scoundrel who would use 
one." 

McKinley accepted the nomination in one of his strong- 
political speeches, saying that in the campaign they should 
avoid no issue, shirk no responsibility, run away from no 
party doctrine, apologize for no party measure of their own 
making, and should stand ready to defend their acts against 
assault from any quarter. 

" We do not invoke our past record as our only warrant 
for the confidence of the people, although we turn to it with 
pride and satisfaction. There is not a page of it that we 
would obliterate if we could, nor is there a line which any 
lover of freedom or mankind would strike from its glorious 
pages." 

He expressed his approval of the platform which stood 
squarely for protection and for maintaining the public 
credit by sound finance. " We have reached the point," 
he said, " where the ways part: one straight and honorable, 
the other crooked and beset with ills; the one leading away 
from the well-settled policy of the fathers which can end 
only in a revolution of values, the ruin of national and in- 
dividual credits, and financial derangement generally; the 
other leading by a shining path to public safety and financial 
honor. Better risk defeat which can be only temporary 
than capitulate to the demagogue or surrender to dis- 
honesty." 

The Democrats were boasting that Ohio had become 
a Democratic State, and that William McKinley's public 
career had ended. Campbell had been elected governor two 



24G LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

years before by a plurality of over ten thousand, and he was 
again placed in nomination upon a platform which declared 
against protection, and expressed a demand for the free 
coinage of silver. McKinley did not at once open his 
campaign in person, but spoke in various sections of the 
country, delivering an admirable Fourth of July address 
at Woodstock, Conn., in which he said: " The future 
will take care of itself if we will do right." 

It was on the 22d of August that McKinley made his 
opening speech in the gubernatorial campaign at Xiles, his 
birthplace, and he made it from the little porch over the 
doorway to the house in which he was born, forty-eight 
years before, and there in front of the very windows, 
through which, as a babe, he had first seen the light of day, 
he reviewed the parade and addressed a large gathering of 
the people from the whole country around. In his speech 
he entered at once into a bold discussion of national and 
State issues. 

'' The Democratic platform," said he, " declares for the 
free and unlimited coinage of the silver of the world, to be 
coined as freely as gold is now, upon the same terms and 
under the existing ratio. The platform of the Republi- 
can party stands in opposition to anything short of a full 
and complete dollar. . . . The free and unlimited 
coinage of silver demanded by the Democratic convention 
recently held in Cleveland amounts to this, that all the silver 
in l lie world, from i'Yvvy quarter of the world, can be 
broughl t<> the mints of the United States and coined at the 
expense of the government; that is, that the mints of the 
United States must receive 412 J- grains of silver which is 
now worth hut eighty cents the world over, and coin there- 



LIFE OF WILLIAM MeKINLEY. 247 

for a silver dollar, which, by the fiat of the government, is to 
be received by the people of the United States, and to 
circulate among them as worth a full dollar of one hundred 
cents. ... It does not take a wise man to see that if 
a dollar worth only eighty cents intrinsically, coined with- 
out limit, is made a legal tender to the amount of its face 
value, for the payment of all debts, public and private, a 
legal tender in all business transactions among the people, 
it will become in time the exclusive circulating medium of 
the country. Gold, which is 20 per cent, more valuable on 
every dollar, will not be paid out in any transactions in this 
country, when an eighty-cent silver dollar will answer the 
purpose. Nor will the greenback be long in returning 
to the treasury for redemption in gold. . . . The 
leading nations of the world would be glad to put us upon a 
silver basis. There is little doubt that Europe only with- 
holds consent to an international ratio on account of her 
belief that we will inevitably go to silver. If she believed 
otherwise, she would not be slow to give consent. The 
nations which are on a silver basis alone are the poorest 
nations of the world, and are in constant financial disturb- 
ance and monetary disorder. The danger of free and un- 
limited coinage has been pointed out over and over again by 
leading statesmen of both political parties. 
Governor Campbell declared that while he had his doubts 
about it he was willing to ; chance free and unlimited coinage 
of silver.' I am not willing to ' chance ' it. Under present 
conditions the country cannot afford to chance it. We can- 
not gamble with anything so sacred as money, which is the 
standard and measure of all values. I can imagine nothing 
which would be more disturbing to our credit, and mure 



248 LII? E OF WILLIAM McKlNLEY. 

deranging to our commercial and financial affairs than to 
make this the dumping ground of the world's silver. . . . 
I am in favor of the double standard, but I am not in favor 
of a free and unlimited coinage of silver in the United 
States, until the nations of the world shall join us in guaran- 
teeing to silver a status which their laws now accord to gold." 

His discussion of the financial question was as pointed 
and as clear as were all his discussions on the question of 
protection, to which he had devoted so much special study. 
One of his noted addresses in the campaign was at Cincin- 
nati, September 1st, upon the American Workingman. 
From another speech, which he delivered at about that time, 
the following truthful representation of the workings of 
the McKinley tariff is quoted: 

'' The principle upon which that bill was made per- 
mitted everything to come into this country free which we 
could not make or did not propose to make, except luxuries, 
and we put the tariff upon the foreign products that compete 
with the American products, to the end that we might en- 
courage American production and American labor. And 
there is not a line of that law that is not American, there 
is not a page of it that is not patriotic, there is not a para- 
graph that is not dedicated to the American home. Why, 
they said prices were going up last fall. The campaign 
prevaricator had a wide range, and he played his part well. 
The law had been in operation but about three weeks, when 
the elections of last year took place. But the campaign 
prevaricator is out of business on that law now. As I said, 
it has been in operation twelve months. We never had 
80 much domestic trade in any twelve months of our history. 
We never had as much foreign trade in any twelve months 



life of wii.lia.m Mckinley. 249 

since the beginning of the federal government as we have 
had since this bill has become a Law. We never bought as 
much abroad in any twelve months in our history as we 
bought in the first twelve months of this law, largely because 
of the new free list, made under protection lines, in this law. 
We pul everything <>n the free list thai we could not pro- 
duce ourselves. We have sold more abroad in these twelve 
months than in any twelve months since the administration 
of George Washington, and when Europe came to settle 
the balance of trade with us after the first twelve months 
of operation with us under that law, Europe paid to the 
United States $99,000,000 in gold, representing the excess 
of what Europe bought of us over what we bought of 
Europe." 

When the votes were counted election night it was 
found that McKinley had been elected governor over James 
E. Campbell by a plurality of over 20,000 votes. At the 
Republican jollification of the old Eighteenth Congres- 
sional District, at ( lanton, November 14th, just a year after 
the exciting times at the same place, when McKinley wrote 
his editorial, beginning " Protection was never stronger 
than at this hour," McKinley was enthusiastically received, 
and he was applauded now by some who had jeered at him 
in his defeat the year before. 

The Democrats had found that McKinley was a hard 
man to kill. 



CHAPTEK XXII. 

CONVENTION, CAMPAIGN, AND DEFEAT OP 1892 — FAITH 
STILL UNSHAKEN BY ADVERSITY. 

McKinley Inaugurated as Governor — A Delegate at Large — 
McKinley Permanent Chairman of the Convention — Another 
Embarrassing Situation — Efforts to Use McKinley to Defeat 
Harrison — Foraker Announces Forty-four Votes for McKinley 
and Two for Harrison — Another Roll Call with the Same 
Result — McKinley Leaves the Chair and Moves to Make 
Harrison's Nomination Unanimous — Receives One Hundred 
and Eighty-two Votes under Protest — Campaign of Mis- 
representation — McKinley Bill Maligned — People Vote for a 
Change — Republicans Waver — McKinley Exhorts them to 
be Firm — Only a Cross Current — The Republican Party 
A'alues its Principles no Less in Defeat than in Victory — 
A Prediction that Speedily Came True. 



M 



cKIXLEY was inaugurated Governor of Ohio on 
the 11 tli of January, 1892. In the opening par- 
agraph of his address he said: " I approach the 
administration of the office with which I have been clothed 
by the people, deeply sensible of its responsibilities, and re- 
solved to discharge its duties to the best of my ability. It 
is my desire to co-operate with you in every endeavor to se- 
cure a wise, economical, and honorable administration, and, 
si i far as can be done, the improvement and elevation of 
the public service." It became proper and necessary for 
the Legislature, being the first after the taking of the new 

( 250 ) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 251 

federa] census, to make a now apportionment of the State. 
The manner in which McKinley, who for ten years had 
suffered from gerrymandering, approached this subject in 
his inaugural, is worthy of notice as indicating the disposi- 
tion and purpose of the man. He said, " You will be re- 
quired under the new census to re-district the State for Rep- 
resentatives in Congress. This will afford you an opportu- 
nity to arrange the districts with fairness to all. Make 
the districts so fair in their relations to the political 
divisions of our people, that they will stand until a 
new census shall be taken. Make them so impartial that 
no future Legislature will dare disturb them until a new cen- 
sus, and until a new Congressional apportionment shall make 
a change imperative. Extreme partisanship in their ar- 
rangement should be avoided. There is a sense of fair play 
among the people which is prompt to condemn the flagrant 
misuse of party advantage at the expense of popular suf- 
frage. Partisanship is not to be discouraged, but encour- 
aged in all things where principle is at stake; but a partisan- 
ship which would take from the people their just represen- 
tation in the case of the Congressional redistricting by the 
last Legislature, is an abuse of power which the people are 
swift to rebuke. ... It will be your duty to enfran- 
chise the citizens of Ohio who were disfranchised by the last 
legislative gerrymander, and to restore to the people their 
rightful voice in the national House of Representatives. 
Free suffrage is of little service to the citizen, if its force 
be defeated by legislative machinations in the form of a 
gerrymander. The districts should be made so as to give 
the party majority in a State a majority of Representatives 
in the national House of Representatives, and so arfanged 



252 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 

that it* the party majority shall change, the representative 
majority shall also change." 

The new Governor showed a familiarity with the affairs 
and history of the State which was considered remarkable 
in view of the attention which he had always devoted to 
federal affairs. Shortly after the inauguration, the nation 
plunged into another exciting presidential campaign. Long 
before the Republican convention met at Minneapolis in 
1892, MeKinley expressed himself in favor of the re-nom- 
ination of President Harrison, feeling that this w T as the wish 
of the masses of his party. He was convinced of the wisdom 
and justice of the President's re-nomination, and was elected 
a delegate at large from Ohio, with the understanding that 
the Ohio vote should be solid for President Harrison. 

MeKinley was chosen permanent chairman of the con- 
vention. His speech was short and to the point: " Repub- 
lican conventions," he said, " mean something. They have 
always meant something. Republican conventions say 
what they mean and mean what they say. They declare 
principles and policies and purposes, and when entrusted 
with power, execute and enforce them." He then made a 
brief review of Democratic attempts to reform the tariff, 
and of the character and purposes of the act of 1890. 

At this convention, as in 1888, MeKinley was placed in 
an extremely embarrassing and tempting position. Previ- 
ous to the convention, an opposition to President Harrison 
hail been developed by certain leaders. Tt was apparent 
that Blaine could not defeat Harrison, and that Repub- 
licans, including Piatt of Xew York, Clarkson of Towa, and 
Quay of Pennsylvania, fixed upon MeKinley as a likely man 
to defeat Harrison, because they knew that in the conven- 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 253 

tion there was a host of delegates, who, though for Harri- 
son, were great admirers of McKinley. There was but one 
ballot. McKinley received votes from various States, and 
when Ohio was called, ex-Governor Foraker, who was lead- 
ing the delegation, announced " Forty-four for McKinley, 
two for Harrison." 

' k I challenge the vote of Ohio," said McKinley from the 
chair, interrupting the call. 

" The gentleman is not a member of the delegation at 
present," replied Foraker. 

" I am a delegate from that State," cried McKinley, 
amid the confusion and uproar. 

" The gentleman's alternate," said Foraker in reply, 
" has taken his place in the delegation, and the gentleman is 
not recognized as a member of the delegation now, and we 
make that point of order." 

" The chair overrules the point of order, and asks the 
secretary to call the roll of Ohio, and I demand that my 
vote be counted," returned McKinley. 

The roll was called and again resulted, " McKinley for- 
ty-four, Harrison two." 

Mr. Alsdorf of the delegation announced that his vote 
was for Harrison, but he wished to have it changed to Mc- 
Kinley. Mr. Xevin, another delegate, said: " That there 
may be no mistake about it, T want to say that as the alter- 
nate of William McKinley, Jr., and at his request, I 
voted for Benjamin Harrison." The vote of the State then 
stood, McKinley forty-five, Harrison one. When the vote 
of Texas was announced, McKinley called Colonel Elliott 
F. Shepard of Xew York to the chair, and, taking the floor, 
moved that the nomination of Harrison be made unanimous. 



254 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Mr. Clarkson seconded the motion, but an objection was 
made because the roll call was in progress. McKinley then 
withdrew his motion, but when the roll call was completed 
renewed it, and the nomination was made unanimous. In 
spite of McKinley's protest, he received one hundred and 
eighty-two votes. 

" Your turn will come in 1896," shouted one of the del- 
egates who had voted for him, and it was a prophecy which 
has been fulfilled. 

McKinley was also chosen chairman of the committee 
to officially notify the President of his re-nomination. This 
took place at the Executive Mansion in Washington on the 
20th of June. " After one of the most careful, success- 
ful, and brilliant administrations in our history," said Mc- 
Kinley to the President, " you have received a renomina- 
tion, an approval of your work, which must bring to you the 
keenest gratification. To be nominated for a second term 
upon the merits of his administration, is the highest dis- 
tinction which can come to an American President. . . We 
beg to hand to you the platform of principles unanimously 
adopted by the convention, which places you in nomina- 
tion. It is an American document. Protection, which shall 
serve the highest interests of American labor and American 
development; reciprocity, which, while seeking the world's 
market for our surplus products, shall not destroy Ameri- 
can wages or surrender American markets for products 
which can bo made at home; honest money, which shall 
rightly measure the labor and exchanges of the people and 
client nobody; honest elections, which are tin 1 true founda- 
tion of all public authority — these principles constitute 
for the most part the platform; principles to which you 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. £V> 

have already by word and An't] given your earnest approval, 
and of which yon stand to-day the exponent and representa- 
tive." 

In the campaign of 1892, the Democrats adopted the 
same tactics they operated with success in 1890, malign- 
ing in every fashion possible the McKinley tariff law; lead- 
ing people to believe that something was wrong, and induc- 
ing them to vote for a change. It was the misfortune of the 
McKinley act that it took effect at the opening of the pres- 
idential contest, and when labor troubles in Pennsylvania 
excited the public mind. McKinley entered into the cam- 
paign with zeal, and upon every occasion met these attacks 
with force and logic. 

Speaking at the first Xational Convention of Republi- 
can Colleges at Ann Arbor, he said: " They say the tariff 
is a tax. That is a captivating cry. So it is a tax, but 
whether it is burdensome upon the American people de- 
pends upon who pays it. If we pay it, why should the for- 
eigners object ? Why all these objections in England, 
France, Germany, Canada, and Australia against the tariff 
law of 1890 if the American consumer bears the burdens 
and if the tariff is only added to the foreign cost which the 
American consumer pays ? If they pay it, then we do not 
pay it; and if the increased tariff has not increased the price 
of commodities upon which the tariff has been advanced, 
then we know that we do not pay it. The price of wire nails 
in Pittsburg is 1.65 cents per pound; the. tariff is two cents a 
pound. Who pays that tax ? It is a fact which I would like 
to impress upon you and all of you that our exports during 
the last twelve months have increased 15.41 per cent, over 

the preceding twelve months, while British exports under 
16 ' 



256 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

free trade decreased for tlie calendar year 1891, 5.(5 per 
cent," 

In his speech before the Nebraska Chautauqua Associa- 
tion at Beatrice, Neb., August 2, he refuted by facts and 
figures every argument Democratic stump speakers used 
against the McKinley law. The enemies of protection 
talked unceasingly about the burden, but would not particu- 
larize. " If there is anything," said McKinley, " that the 
free trader shrinks from, it is facts and conditions. They 
cannot designate the character of the injury which they so 
persistently allege follows the protective tariff. Every- 
thing around them contradicts their theories. Trade and 
business, wages and prices, all unite in destroying their ar- 
guments." 

But, in spite of the facts and figures, the people voted 
for a change, and the result of the election fell with de- 
moralizing and almost crushing weight upon the Repub- 
lican party of the country. The people seemed to have 
repudiated the McKinley Law. There gathered about 
him in his hotel parlor in an eastern city at that time many 
of his party, some of them complaining; others timidly de- 
claring that the McKinley Law did it, and a few seemed 
ready to turn their backs upon the party's record and prin- 
ciples. McKinley did not seek to evade the responsibilities 
of his position, but counseled courage and fortitude. The 
faith of the Covenanter within him did not waver. lie was 
as brave as he had been two years before when he said " pro- 
tection was never stronger " than at that hour. He listened 
to the complaints and the expressions of doubt calmly and 
patiently. Then he said, " My f fiends, be firm. This is 
only a cross current; only a chop sea. The tide of truth 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 257 

flows steadily un beneath;" and these men went away 
stronger, inspired by the faith that was in the man and un- 
derstanding more fully some of the qualities that made him 
a power among men. 

In response t<» a toast, " The Republican Party,''' at the 
Lincoln Banquet of the Ohio Republican League at Colum- 
bus soon after the defeat, and shortly before the inaugura- 
tion of Mr. Cleveland, he began in this way: 

" Idie Republican party values its principles no less in 
defeat than in victory. It holds to them after a reverse, as 
before, because it believes in them; and believing in them, 
is ready to battle for them. They are not espoused for 
mere policy, nor to serve in a single contest. They are set 
deep and strong in the hearts of the party, and are inter- 
woven with its struggles, its life and its history. Without 
diseouragement, our great party reaffirms its allegiance to 
Republican doctrine, and with unshaken confidence seeks 
again the public judgment through public discussion. The 
defeat of 1892 has not made Republican principles less 
true nor our faith in their ultimate triumph less firm. The 
party accepts with true American spirit the popular verdict, 
and, challenging the interpretation put upon it by our polit- 
ical opponents, takes an appeal to the people, whose court 
i< always open, and whose right of review is never ques- 
tioned." 

Further on he said: " What our political enemies may 
do, is no measure of our duty. Whatever they may do, or 
fail to do, our course is plain. Whether they keep faith or 
break it, let us keep ours unsullied and in honor. We must 
stand for Republican doctrines, and for every one of them. 
The best our opponents can do will be bad enough ; little or 



258 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

much, it will unsettle business and force industrial 
changes. Even inaction will produce anxious suspense, 
which will shake confidence." This was a plain prediction 
of the disturbance and panic following quickly after Mr. 
Cleveland's inauguration, and a prediction which showed 
the ground for his belief in the ultimate triumph of his 
principles. 

' k In a few clays," he continued, " the country passes into 
the control of the Democratic party, in a condition of match- 
less prosperity in every department of industry. We do not 
leave them a legacy of hard times, idle industries, unproduc- 
tive enterprises, and unemployed labor. We turn over to 
them a country blessed with unprecedented activity in every 
avenue of human employment, with labor in active demand 
and better paid than in all our history before; a government 
with unparalleled resources and credit, and with no stain 
upon its honor." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Mckinley as governor — exciting times in ohio — 
two active and efficient administrations. 

A Popular Executive Officer — Securing the Best Men for State 
Institutions — The State Board of Arbitration — Governor 
MeKinley's Part in its Formation — Its Valuable Services — 
Exciting Times in the Second Administration — Upholding the 
Dignity and the Laws of the State without exciting the 
Hostility of the Laboring Classes — Lynching not to be 
Tolerated in Ohio — The Dark Year of 1894 — Distress among 
the Miners — Appeals to the Governor for Help — A Midnight 
Despatch and a Carload of Provisions — He Assumes the Re- 
sponsibility for Payment — Investigation into the Distress in 
Mining Districts — Intelligent Distribution of Supplies — 
Several Serious Labor Difficulties — Counseling Arbitration — 
Settling Disputes without Expense to the State and without 
a Breach of Law — The Governor Constantly at his Post. 

HAVING related some of the national events of im- 
portance with which McKinley was concerned im- 
mediately following his inauguration as governor, 
we will now return to a brief review of his administration. 
He was a popular and efficient executive officer, popular not 
simply with his political friends, but highly esteemed by 
his political enemies. While he is, as he claims, an " offen- 
sive Republican," when principles are at stake, he is any- 
thing but a bigoted partisan in the management of the 
details of an administrative position. He won the affection 

(259) 



260 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

of subordinate State officials associated with him, and se- 
cured the cordial co-operation of the General Assembly in 
matters of State concern. His aim was to give the institu- 
tions of the State the services of the best men he could 
find, and to prevent inefficiency and demoralization through 
the introduction of blind partisanship. 

His first administration passed off quietly, but, neverthe- 
less, much was accomplished. In his first message he called 
attention to the problem of taxation in Ohio, and to the 
need of applying certain remedies for inequalities and in- 
justices that had crept into the system. He recommended 
legislation for the safety and comfort of steam railroad 
employes, drew attention to the development of electric 
railways, and urged that the Legislature should enact 
suitable requirements for the safety of both employes and 
the traveling public. In more ways than one he showed 
that he was interested in the problems of ameliorating the 
conditions of labor, and he early set about to secure in Ohio 
a law providing for a State Board of Arbitration. We have 
already seen that when the question of arbitration was up 
in ( Jongress, he had strongly supported the measure, and 
said that lie believed in arbitration, not only between in- 
dividuals, but also between nations. The Legislature took 
up the subject and passed a law, substantially that of 
Massachusetts, by which arbitration was authorized and 
favored, not compelled, and made free of expense to the 
parlies. The parties retained the right to select their own 
arbitrators if they desired, and thorough and impartial in- 
vestigation was made into the causes of strikes, and when- 
ever disagreements continued after awards or investigations, 
the facts wi'vc published. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 2»I1 

In his second administration, which was more stormy, 
because of the hard times which prevailed while Congress 
was engaged in repealing the McKinley Act, and because 
of serious labor troubles that occurred in various sections 
of the State, this Board of Arbitration became of great 
service. The governor made the board non-partisan, 
though not so required by statute, and during his adminis- 
tration it was called into service in twenty-eight different 
strikes, involving many thousand employes. Fifteen of 
these were settled through the efforts of the board, and the 
others by the parties themselves. Where the parties to a 
controversy agreed to abide by the award of the board, they 
never failed to do so. 

In June, 1894, soon after his second inauguration, the 
miners' strike, involving every mining district in Ohio, 
occurred, causing many outbreaks among the turbulent 
elements. Trains upon coal-carrying railroads were 
stopped, and excited strikers otherwise interfered with prop- 
erty rights, so that the moment a call was made upon the 
State for help, Governor McKinley ordered out the whole 
of the Ohio National Guard. They Avere called into ser- 
vice, a regiment at a time, but the disturbances continuing, 
nearly every soldier was called to duty, and they were in 
active service about three weeks. In this serious business, 
McKinley acted as commander-in-chief, managing the 
troops with a vigor which indicated that he meant to up- 
hold the good name of the State by force if necessary, but 
by milder means if possible. He inspired the troops with a 
sense of their responsibility, to avoid anything that should 
look like injustice against the disturbers; and the interven- 
tion did not arouse that hostility among the laboring classes 



262 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

which it usually does. The Governor was himself con- 
stantly at his post. It is said that he seldom retired during 
those sixteen days until 4 o'clock in the morning. He took 
direct charge of the movements and of the arrangements 
for the health and comfort of the men. When he heard 
that the Lorain & Wheeling Railroad had announced a 
change of its program and would not suspend traffic on its 
road on Sunday, June 10th, he immediately sent a letter 
to Adjutant-General Howe, asking a reason for this change 
of purpose, saying that rest to the National Guard and 
their health were of the highest importance; that he hoped 
peace would not be broken on Sunday, and that he should 
deeply regret to learn of any conflict being brought on that 
day which was not absolutely necessary to the preserva- 
tion of the peace and protection to property in aid of the 
civil authority. 

In October there was another demand for militia on ac- 
count of an outbreak among the people of Washington, Fay 
ette county, over the commission of a heinous crime. The 
prisoner, who had been apprehended and brought there 
for trial, was promptly indicted, tried, sentenced, and 
received the full limit of the law; but, while justice seemed 
to be swift and sure, it did not suit the mob, which was 
determined to lynch the man. In the struggle which fol- 
lowed three people were killed, and a court of inquiry was 
instituted to inquire into the conduct of Colonel Coit, who 
was in command of the military; but he was exonerated, 
MeKinley giving the exoneration his endorsement. 

" Lynching," he said, " cannot be tolerated in Ohio. 
The law of the State must be supreme over all, and the 
agents of t be law, ad ing within the law, must be sustained." 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 263 

He found that Colonel Coit and his men acted with 
prudence and judgment, and within the law, in supporting 
the civil authority of the county, performing their duty with 
singular fidelity, upholding the majesty of the law, though 
at a fearful cost. 

A year later, a similar attempt was made to lynch a 
prisoner in the custody of the sheriff at Tiffin, Seneca 
county. The sheriff and his deputies did their best, but 
were compelled to appeal to the governor for help; and, 
with a promptness that showed the most perfect discipline, 
four companies, from as many cities, were at once sent to 
the scene of the trouble. Governor McKinley's prompt- 
ness and thoroughness in dealing with these matters elicited 
the warmest praise, not only in Ohio, but in all sections of 
the country. He was given the credit which he deserved 
of being alive to the interests and dignity of the State in 
these troublous times, and of being determined to stop all 
such disturbances at the very beginning, before they had 
spread and led to serious results. During the first year of 
McKinley's second administration no less than fifteen calls 
were made upon the State government for military aid in 
upholding the law, and there were several occasions in the 
year following. 

But while promptness and severity characterized Mc- 
Kinley's administration in his treatment of violations of the 
law during those times of depression and of desperate acts, 
there was another and a merciful side to his conduct of 
affairs. In January, 1895, the Trades Labor Union of 
the Hocking Valley mining district met to organize and 
form some plan for the relief of distress and destitution 
among the unemployed miners and their families. During 



264 LI FE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

tlie discussion a committee was appointed to wait upon the 
governor, and to present to him a memorial which they had 
adopted. They did so, and explained the condition of the 
miners and their families, and the necessity for prompt 
relief. The governor advised that a committee return, 
and request the mayor of Nelsonville to call a meeting of 
the citizens to -consider the question of relief, and he 
would take immediate steps to carry out their wishes. 
Such a meeting was called, and the action of the committee 
ratified, and McKinley was accordingly informed. At 
midnight he was aroused by a messenger with a despatch 
from the chairman of the committee, which said: "Im- 
mediate relief needed." The governor at once despatched 
messengers to different stores for groceries, vegetables, etc., 
and sent for the officials of the Lackawanna Valley Railroad 
Company, requesting them to come immediately to his 
rooms to arrange for a car and the shipment of a. load of 
provisions the next morning. These arrangements were 
all carried out, and within nine hours after he received 
the message, the provisions were in Kelsonville ready for 
distribution. 

The Governor had assumed the responsibility for pay- 
ment of the provisions, and it was not his purpose to ask the 
people to provide for the payment; but his friends, learning 
of the obligation he had assumed, at once secured a large 
pari of the amount, which, added to his own subscription, 
paid the bill. Five days later another despatch came te 
McKinley saying that 1,7G3 miners were out of employ- 
ment and in great distress, in at least four different localities 
to which supplies would have to be sent or intense suffering 
would prevail, lie authorized purchases of supplies for 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. ^il.', 

each of the mining - districts, and shipments were made upon 
the first trains out of Columbus. Two days later another 
appeal came from other localities, and the calls for help 
came almost daily up to the 4th of April, when the last 
shipment of provisions was made. At the Governor's 
instance committees were appointed to visit these mining 
districts, ascertain the real situation, and report plans for 
an intelligent and judicious distribution of supplies. He 
enlisted also the boards of trade and the chambers of com- 
merce in the larger cities to investigate the condition of 
the mining districts. During that brief period of distress 
nearly 3,000 mind's were out of employment, representing 
a population of probably 10,000, and the total expenditure 
for their relief amounted to nearly $38,000. 

In all this work Governor McKinley took not only an 
active interest, but the leading part. On one occasion, 
when he was called away from Columbus, he left instruc- 
tions that if appeals should be made for relief, every demand 
should be met and that no one should be allowed to go 
hungry. By this constant oversight of the poor people 
in the mining districts of Ohio much hunger and suffering- 
was prevented. It speaks highly for Governor McKinley "s 
management of affairs that, in the dark days of that year, 
when thousands of miners were unemployed, the peace 
of the State was rigidly maintained, and to a large degree 
this may have been due to the operations of the efficient 
Board of Arbitration, which had been provided in his first 
administration. There were some labor troubles, but 
neither the militia nor the police had to be called out on 
account of any strike or dispute with which the Hoard of 
Arbitration had anything to do. Many times feeling ran 



266 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

high, and the board, upon reaching the scene of a dispute, 
would find much apprehension of outbreaks, and in at least 
two instances applications had already been made to the 
Governor for aid to prevent them. It was Governor Mc- 
Kinley's unfailing custom to recommend delegations from 
disputants to submit their differences to arbitrators if they 
could not settle them themselves, and, in most instances, 
his arguments were listened to and his advice taken. In 
one miners' strike in the Massillon district, where all efforts 
at settlement had failed, he succeeded in bringing the parties 
to agree to arbitration, and a settlement was arranged after 
2,000 miners had been idle for eight months, and a loss 
in wages and business aggregating at least a million of 
dollars had been incurred. If this strike had been allowed 
to proceed much longer after the hope of reaching a settle- 
ment between the parties had seemed to disappear, it is 
probable that violence and malicious destruction of property 
would have resulted. 

At another time, in 1894, a certain employer of a large 
number of men, then on strike, called on the governor 
and asked him what he would do in a certain contingency 
about ordering out the militia. 

" It is needless to ask what a public officer in Ohio will 
do; he does his duty. The practical question is, What 
can you do ? What will your employes do ? What can 
we all do properly to divert the necessity of using force ? 
That is the question for immediate solution at which I have 
been engaged for some days." 

The result was that a mooting was hold the next day 
a1 the governor's office at his instance. It was attended by 
the employer, the State Hoard of Arbitration, which had 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 267 

already been looking into the case, and a delegation of 
citizens and business men concerned, lie presided over 
the meeting, plans were perfected, and the Board of Arbi- 
tration immediately despatched to arrange matters. Be- 
fore the governor went to bed that night, a despatch from 
the scene of the strike informed him that the trouble was at 
an end, without any expense to the State, and without a 
single breach of the peace. 

By the energy and the tact which he used in bringing 
the State Board of Arbitration into service in a time when 
labor troubles were so frequent, he succeeded in inaugurat- 
ing a policy which has had much to do in relieving the State 
of continued labor troubles and their dangers. 

While these exacting duties were being performed, 
Governor McKinley was also required to attend to the 
regular affairs of his office, and, as will appear later, he was 
called into campaign service in many places in the country. 
His powers of endurance, his ability to turn off work, the 
thoroughness with which he entered into all problems be- 
fore him, were as conspicuous in his administration as 
governor as they had been in his services as Congressman 
and as a leader of his party on the floor of the House. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

PERSONAL REVERSES — DEVOTION AND SELF-SACRI- 
FICE of mrs. Mckinley — the man of the nation. 

A Thunder Clap from a Clear Sky — McKinley is Found 
to be an Endorser on Notes of an Old Friend to the Extent 
of over One Hundred Thousand Dollars — Tm-ns over all his 
Property — Mrs. McKinley Contributes her Fortune — "My 
Husbaud's Debts are Mine " — Contributions come in from the 
People — McKinley Returns them — The Final Settlement — 
Every Creditor Paid in Full where McKinley was Liable — 
His Re-nomination by Acclamation for Governor — The Demo- 
cratic Opponent — A Warm Campaign — McKinley Re-elected 
by over Eighty Thousand Plurality — His Trip to Chicago 
Speech at the Reunion of the Army of Tennessee — Ohio Day 
— McKinley Rides his Famous Horse, "Midnight," in the 
Parade — Received by Cheers Every where — People Crowd 
around to Grasp his Hands — " Our Next President." 

WHILE McKinley was devoting himself to the du- 
ties of his office with an energy seldom seen in 
executives, other events of wider significance 
were continually transpiring. It is difficult to condense into 
a few words the life of McKinley in those four years — 
there was so much of it, and so much to it, The swiftly 
running current of events was making him more and more 
the man of the nation. Before entering upon the narra- 
tive of McKiidey's wonderful campaigns, it is necessary to 

touch briefly upon an affair relating to his own private for- 

(268) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLLY. 269 

tunes, which occurred in February, 1893, when he was en- 
couraging Republicans to stand by their colors, assuring 
them that the reverses were but a cross current; that the Re- 
publican party valued its principles not less in defeat than 
in victory. 

One day when he was preparing to take a train to fill 
an engagement as speaker, the information was brought to 
him that Mr. Walker, a banker and business man whose 
credit and financial standing had long been considered un- 
questionable in Ohio, had failed, and that his name was on 
Walker's notes aggregating more than $60,000. Mr. Wal- 
ker was an old friend of McKinley. When the latter 
first entered upon his legal career at Canton, Walker had 
assisted him; and McKinley never forgot those who had 
befriended him. 

A short time previous to the failure, Walker had come to 
McKinley to secure his endorsement of notes, saying that 
he needed some ready money. McKinley signed them with- 
out question, glad of an opportunity to aid his old friend, 
and not doubting for a moment his financial soundness. The 
news of the failure, therefore, and of the fact that his name 
was on notes aggregating three times his personal fortune, 
came like a thunder clap from a clear sky. 

Mr. McKinley had been led to suppose, in endorsing 
some of these notes, that they were to take up notes which 
he had previously endorsed, and had no idea that obligations 
for which he was liable as the endorser were floating about 
to any suck extent. Little by little the amount grew until it 
was discovered that his liability footed up about $118,000. 

Democratic papers in the country at once raised the cry 
that the affair showed McKinlev's lack of business knowl- 



270 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

edge, but those who knew the circumstances knew the falsity 
of such a charge, and the people were not slow in recog- 
nizing the malice of it. McKinley at once notified his cred- 
itors that his entire property was at their disposal for set- 
tling the obligations he had incurred. By economy and 
wise investments, he had succeeded in acquiring a property 
valued at about $20,000, in spite of the demands upon the 
Congressional salary by life at Washington, and by his cam- 
paigns. Mrs. McKinley also came forward and said that 
" her husband's misfortunes were hers; that his debts were 
hers," and insisted upon turning over all of her property, 
— most of which she had inherited — amounting to over 
$75,000. " Let every creditor be paid in full," she said. 

The manly way in which McKinley met these reverses; 
the evidences of self-sacrifice and devotion upon Mrs. Mc- 
Kinley's part deeply touched the people of the country. 
Letters to Governor McKinley began to pour in, with offers 
of assistance. They came from all classes of people. One 
of them read: " I have one hundred dollars, and enclose 
five dollars. You have worked too long and well for your 
country to suffer this misfortune alone." They came from 
people whom he had never seen or heard of, but he regu- 
larly returned the money, thanking them for their kind- 
ness and for their sympathy. 

But many letters came enclosing money with no signa- 
t u ios or any indication of whence they came and it became 
a question what to do with them. McKinley was finally 
prevailed upon to turn over his property and his obligations 
to I nistces, among whom were some of his staunch friends in 
the State, and some of its ablest business men. 

No one but the trustees knew where the money came 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 271 

from. McKinley never knew, but it was not long before 
every holder of notes bearing McKinley's endorsement, 
was paid in full; then the trustees went to the governor and 
his wife and told them that their property was all intact and 
had not been touched. They were reluctant to accept such 
a settlement, but the trustees told them that the affair was 
their own. Only the creditors protected by McKinley's en- 
dorsement were paid in full. This incident is valuable, not 
so much because of its effect upon McKinley's life, as illus- 
trating the man and as illustrating the spirit and devotion 
of his wife. 

Shortly after that occurrence, the Kepublican State 
convention to nominate a State ticket was held, and McKin- 
ley was re-nominated by acclamation, upon a platform which 
said " The people of Ohio have a just pride in the adminis- 
tration of the affairs of this State by Governor William Mc- 
Kinley, Jr. He brought to the discharge of his duties as 
governor, great learning, ability and statesmanship, and an 
honest and patriotic purpose, and he has always shown him- 
self capable, faithful, and wise. We heartily endorse his 
administration and assure him of our great esteem and con- 
fidence." 

It was about this time, owing to the steady depletion of 
the gold reserve and the rapid curtailment, of business that 
a feeling of distrust and panic spread throughout the coun- 
try, and a few days later President Cleveland called Con- 
gress in special session, informing it of the existence of " an 
alarming and extraordinary business situation." He said, 
" With plenteous crops, with cheering promise of remuner- 
ative production and manufacture; with unusual invitation 
to safe investments, and with safe assurance to business en- 
17 



27-2 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

terprises, suddenly financial distrust and fear have sprung 
up on every side." It was not so sudden as President 
Cleveland declared. It had been coming on ever since 
the surprising election of Mr. Cleveland in 1892, and the 
discovery that both branches of Congress would be Dem- 
ocratic. The people of the country began again to look to 
McKinley as the man who had told them the truth in his 
remarkable tariff speeches of the previous campaign. He 
saw the trouble coming, and waited quietly for the culmina- 
tion. His faith in protection was such that he knew a 
change in feeling must come. 

It was during those panicky times that the State cam- 
paign of Ohio was carried on, McKinley's Democratic op- 
ponent being L. T. Neal, who was credited with writing the 
plank in the Chicago platform which denounced " Republi- 
can protection as a humbug and reciprocity a sham." He 
attempted to ward off the force of the panic by saying, " We 
still have the McKinley Tariff." " Yes," said McKinley, 
in one of his opening speeches, " but you are pledged to 
repeal it, and the man who receives notice that his house 
is about to bo demolished, does not wait until the dyna- 
mite is put in, but moves out his furniture as soon as he 
can. }\ T o\v what will start your factories ? " A voice from 
the audience yelled out " One hundred thousand for Mc- 
Kinley in November." Great applause and confusion fol- 
lowed, and McKinley was unable to proceed for a time. 
When in November the votes were counted, it was found 
that lie had been elected by the largest vote ever known in 
Ohio up to that time, and by a remarkable plurality of 
80,995. 

It was on September 14th, in the very heat of his State 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 273 

campaign that " Ohio Day " at the Chicago Fair occurred. 
From the time he entered the city of Chicago, until he 
left it, he was busy either making speeches or receiving the 
acclamations of the people. lie had little time for sleep. 

The night before " Ohio Day," occurred the Twenty- 
fifth Annual Banquet of the Society of the Army of the 
Tennessee, one of the most notable social gatherings of old 
comrades that has been held. The banquet was at the 
Palmer House, and Governor McKinley was a guest of hon- 
or. When he arose to speak to the toast " The Volunteers,"- 
the whole assembly rose too, and there was cheering and 
waving of handkerchiefs for several moments. When 
there was a lull, a gentleman asked for " a cheer for the 
next President," and the ovation was continued with in- 
creasing enthusiasm. It was a scene to impress a man, 
proud of his association with the volunteers of the war, 
and he made one of the best short speeches of his life. It 
filled the soldiers with enthusiasm. " My comrades," he 
said, " you can hardly conceive that thirty-two years ago 
a million men from the American home, the American 
schoolhouse, the American farm and factory sprang to arms, 
willing to die. For what ? For the race of man. Some 
things are so priceless and some things so good that nations 
which buy them pay for them in blood. 

" It is said that a colonel of a Connecticut regiment, in 
presenting the stars and stripes to the color sergeant, made 
to him this speech: ' Color-bearer, take this flag. Fight 
for it, die for it, but never yield it into the hands of the 
enemy.' The color sergeant, a lad of eighteen years, with 
the ruddy fire of warm blood coursing through his veins, 
answered: 'Colonel, I'll bring back that flag to you with 



274 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

honor, or report to God the reason why.' Within a week 
that color sergeant fell, and the stars and stripes fell upon 
his breast. He did not take it hack, but God Almighty 
knew the reason why. He gave the best he had — his own 
heart's blood to save it. 

" Another instance, as demonstrating the valor of the 
rank and file of the army, is related at that awful palisade 
at Andersonville. Thirty thousand Union soldiers lay 
weltering under the hot July sun. A private soldier lay 
on a pallet of death. Some Confederate officers entered the 
prison and announced that liberty was to be given to every 
one of them who would renounce allegiance to the United 
States and enlist under the banner of the Confederacy. 
liaising himself up upon his weakened arms — for the word 
liberty suggested to him family, mother, wife, and chil- 
dren — he asked that the message might be repeated. 
When ho heard its conditions the dying soldier lay himself 
back and requested a comrade to take a package from his 
pocket. He opened it, and took out a little flag, our stars 
and stripes. Putting it to his lips, he said: ' I can die for 
this Hag, but T can never fight against it.' 

" 'Fell me the volunteer army of the United States en- 
listed for any other purpose but the purest patriotism! They 
may take away from us everything else, but they cannot 
rub us of our patriotism. We love the flag, and will serve 
the country, and die for the faith that is within us. But, 
no matter what treatment we may receive from anybody's 
hands, we have no bitterness: wo would revive no passions 
of the war. They are gone by. Wo have had all the war 
we want. One thing we must do, and all soldiers must do: 
that is tn insist that the settlements of the war stand as an 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 275 

irresistible judgment of history — the inalienable decree 
of a nation of freedom." 

The " Ohio Day " at the fair was one of the most mem- 
orable events of the great Exposition. It opened with a 
parade of Ohio troops, entering' the ground through the 
Midway Plaisance. Governor McKinley rode his famous 
black horse k> Midnight " and was accompanied by his staff 
on horseback. The incident of the occasion, as the Chicago 
papers said the next morning, was the enthusiastic manner 
in which Governor McKinley was hailed and greeted by cit- 
izens of all states as well as native Ohioans. At every stage 
of the day's proceedings he was most heartily cheered, and at 
times referred to by enthusiastic admirers as " our next 
President." Amid these exciting scenes the Governor car- 
ried himself with dignity and courtesy, bowing his recogni- 
tion of the attention he received. 

During military parade in the morning, while mounted 
on horseback, he was more than once compelled to halt on 
account of the crowds which closed in around him, and 
which insisted on grasping him by the hand. At the State 
building, the enthusiasm toward the Governor was remark- 
able. 

In the afternoon, when he went with his staff to ring 
the liberty bell in front of the administration building, the 
crowds surged around him, and cheered for a long time. 
At the Ohio building, Governor McKinley made ano h 
long speech, with Ohio as his theme. The Chicago papers 
were not so far out of the way when they called the " Ohio 
Day " the " McKinley Day." 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Mckinley as a campaigner — his remarkable 
trip in the pall of 1894 — " protection " his bat- 
TLE-CRY. 

Always in Demand as a Campaign Speaker — After the Panic of 
1893 — Overwhelmed with Invitations from all Sections — 
Wonderful Enthusiasm of his Audiences — A Flying Trip to 
Chicago — Speaking to an Indiana Crowd of Two Thousand 
from a Car Platform with the Thermometer below Zero — 
Addresses the Students of Chicago University — Speaking at 
the Auditorium — Eulogies of Washington and Lincoln — 
The Fall Campaign — Speeches in Nineteen Different States 
— One Hundred and Fifty Thousand People Hear him in Two 
Days in Kansas — Speaking Seventeen Times in One Day — 
Addressing the Working-men before Breakfast — His Journey 
of over Two Thousand Miles to New Orleans to Make One 
Speech — His Reception by the Southerners — Men and 
Women Jump upon the Platform to Shake Him by the Hand — 
His Trip to the Coal Region of West Virginia — Makes Three 
Hundred and Seventy-one Speeches in Seven Weeks — Re- 
turns in ( rood Health. 

GOVERNOR MeKIXLEV was from the very begin- 
ning of liis Congressional career in great demand as 
a campaign speaker, hut never was that demand so 
greal as in the year 1894. The panic subsided in the lat- 
ter part of 1893, but an era of depression in business fol- 
lowed. The winter was one of suffering and distress every- 
where among the working classes. The question of organ- 

(276) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 279 

ized relief forced itself upon every State. The Democratic 
organs predicted immediate recovery after the repeal of 
the " silver purchase act," 1 nit the gloom only settled deeper 
over the industries of the country. The administration and 
its approved agents in Congress were secretly at work upon 
" tariff reform " and business men everywhere hastened 
under cover. All industry, except for immediate needs, 
practically stopped, and an army of unemployed were thrown 
upon the charity of the more fortunate. 

To the great protectionist leader all eyes now turned. 
Back to the Republican party, as McKinley's plurality of 
80,000 had demonstrated, were flocking the now unde- 
ceived voters of the country. They saw in him a man 
whose predictions — every one of them — had come true, 
whose advice had been sound, and whose counsel they had 
rejected to their sorrow. They saw him in his true light, the 
faithful friend of the laboring, industrial, and financial in- 
terests of the country. The Ohio Republican State com- 
mittee was overwhelmed with demands for McKinley, not 
simply from every county in Ohio, but from thousands of 
places in almost every State in the Union. It was a physical 
impossibility for one man to meet more than a small frac- 
tion of the demands that were made upon his time. 

In February he went to Pennsylvania to assist his old 
friend, Galusha A. Grow, in his candidacy for Congress- 
man at large, and on the 15th he addressed the largest 
political mass meeting ever held in Pittsburg. The follow- 
ing description of his reception there, taken from the Pitts- 
burg Times of the next morning, will indicate the character 
of the ovation he received, not simply there, but wherever 
he went during that year. 



280 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 

" When the great protectionist arose on the stage, the 
four thousand people in the building arose also, and a more 
cordial greeting was never tendered a speaker. Cheer after 
cheer, long and loud, rolled like contending waves over th 
greatest audience ever assembled in the historic hall. All 
the while the famous Republican warrior stood watching 
the extraordinary outburst. In front of him, as far as he 
could see, in the rear of him, and on every side of him, 
his admirers stood waving their hats and handkerchiefs, 
and shouting a welcome that seemed strong enough to live 
forever. There seemed no end to the applause. There 
were no bounds to the enthusiasm. Again and again the 
cheering was renewed, and each outburst was stronger than 
the other. Finally the people climbed upon their chairs, 
and with one mighty effort united their voices in three cheers 
for ' McKinley our next President. v Then they gave 
three cheers more, and finally yielded to the speaker." 

After a reference to the coming election in Pennsylva- 
nia, he said: " What do we want — all of us ? Prosper- 
ity. How can we get it ? The way to begin to get it, is 
to defeat the party which destroyed it. The way to re- 
sume prosperity is to resume power, and that, T take it, is 
what you intend the Republican party shall begin to do 
here and now." 

At the close of a discussion of the character of the 
Wilson bill, which had then been introduced, he said: 

'' The Democratic free-traders are also always talking 
about relief to the people. The only relief they have 
brought thus far is relief from labor. TIow do you like that 
kind of relief ? They have created another phase of re- 
lief — the relief committee — a free trade committee." 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 281 

After the meeting, Governor McKinley was lifted from 
the stage and carried by a number of his admirers through 
a [tart of the crowded hall. 

Two days later he arrived at New York with Mrs. Mc- 
Kinley, and in the evening was the guest of honor and the 
principal speaker at the ninth annual banquet of the Ohio 
Society of New York, at which he spoke of Ohio and her 
Suns. Thence he hurried to Chicago, where he was to be 
the guest of honor in the exercises arranged for Washing- 
ton's birthday, under the auspices of the Union League 
( dub. The train made few stops, but at every station the 
news that Ohio's governor was on board had preceded it, and 
large crowds were awaiting him. At Elkhart, Indiana, 
a ten-minute stop was made to change engines. A thou- 
sand people at once gathered around the car, and loud calls 
were made for the governor. Though the thermometer was 
below zero, Major McKinley finally responded. Shouts 
of " Here's our next President," greeted him when he 
stepped to the car platform. lie made a few remarks, and 
when the train started, " Three cheers for our next Presi- 
dent " went up from a dozen places. A train from Michi- 
gan had just pulled in alongside the governor's car. Its 
passengers rushed out on the platform and joined in the 
cheering. 

The next day was a busy one for McKinley, and yel a 
sample of many days that year. In the forenoon President 
Harper of the University of Chicago called and asked him 
to speak to the students. He did so cheerfully. In the 
afternoon he delivered a magnificent tribute to Washington, 
to an audience that crowded the mammoth Auditorium 
from pit to dome. In the evening he was the guest of 



282 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

honor at the banquet given by the Union League Club. On 
all these occasions no one received the attention or the ap- 
plause accorded to McKinley, and Democrats as well as Re- 
publicans joined in the ovations. When introduced at the 
banquet, he said: 

" I have been striving through the entire evening to 
secure for myself protection against another speech. Hav- 
ing engaged your attention at such great length to-day, I 
thought I might well be excused from further duty in 
that direction to-night [no, no,], but the president of your 
club has put a duty upon me [laughter], and it is a specific 
duty, for if it were an ad valorem I could swear out of it 
[laughter] ; it would have the necessary elasticity." 

Turning his attention then to the heroes of the coun- 
try, he paid some glowing tributes to Washington, Lincoln, 
and Grant. Of Lincoln he said: 

" Xo grander man ever lived ; no greater character ever 
appeared in American politics; no man ever did more for 
union, and for liberty, and for civilization, and for the eleva- 
tion of mankind than that simple citizen with no opulent 
surroundings while he was President of this great repub- 
lic. 

" There is one thing that lias always impressed me, not 
only in the character of Washington, but in the character 
of Lincoln, and in that respect they are much alike. They 
;il ways showed a sublime reliance upon an overruling provi- 
dence. Read the messages of General Washington; rend 
his great public proclamations; read what he wrote in war 
or iu peace, and you will always find ;i recognition of that 
I )ivino providence that controls the affairs of nations as well 
:h the affairs of men. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM HcKINLEY. :>:) 

" And so with the great liberator, Abraham Lincoln. 
It is said of him that after the battle of Gettysburg, when 
General Sickles, wounded almost to death, was brought to 
the city of Washington, Lincoln was his first visitor at his 
quarters on F street. He called, and after making anxious 
inquiries about the personal condition of General Sickles, 
then inquired of him about the battle of Gettysburg. 

" General Sickles went into all of its details, and when 
Mr. Lincoln had finished his inquiries, the general turned 
to him and said: ' President Lincoln, what do you think 
of Gettysburg.' President Lincoln said: 'I had very 
little thought about Gettysburg.' 

" ' Why, that is strange,' said General Sickles, ' I un- 
derstood there was consternation in the city of Washing-ton 
when Lee went over into Pennsylvania/ Mr. Lincoln 
said : ' So there was, and Stanton and Welles put some of the 
most important archives of the government upon the gun- 
boats, and they wanted me to go there for safety, but I de- 
clined. T said T had no fear about Gettysburg.' 

" ' Well,' General Sickles said, ' how is that, Mr. Lin- 
coln ? ' ' Well,' said he, ' I will tell you, if you will 
never tell anybody. Before the battle of Gettysburg, T went 
into my little room at the White House, and I got down 
on my knees, and I prayed to God as I never prayed before. 
I told Him that this was His country, that this was His war, 
that we could not stand any more Chancellorvilles or any 
more Fredericksburg's, and if He would stand by me, I 
would stand by Him. And He did, and I will. And from 
that hour,' said the immortal Lincoln, ' I had no fear about 
Gettysburg. ' " 

Returning to his official duties at Columbus, for a few 



284 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

davs, we find McKinley on the 28th of March in Minneapo- 
lis in attendance at the convention of the State Republican 
League. Not since the Republican National convention 
of two years before had the West Hotel lobby been so com- 
pactly filled, as when Governor McKinley, standing upon 
the second landing of the marble stairway, soon after his ar- 
rival, looked over the throng. The standing capacity of 
the lobby is estimated at four thousand; there was hardly 
room for another person in it. He was introduced, and 
made a short speech. Another speech was demanded of 
him at the convention, and in the evening he was introduced 
to six thousand people at the Exposition hall, where he gave 
a long discussion of the political issues of the day. 

But it was in the fall of that year, after a very wearisome 
summer, devoted, as we have already seen, to the relief of 
distressed miners in Ohio, that he made what is probably 
the most remarkable campaign tour that has ever been seen 
in this country. It is perhaps without a parallel in the his- 
tory of campaigning anywhere in the world. He was 
heard, raising aloft the banner of protection, in nineteen 
different States, addressing at least a score of meetings in 
each State, and no one can estimate the number of people 
who heard him on that trip alone. Some idea of the en- 
thusiasm shown may be gained from the fact that during 
his t\v.» days in Kansas, it is estimated that 150,000 people 
heard him. From Council Bluffs to Des Moines he spoke at 
every station, and CO, 000 people in all gathered at the va- 
rious places. Altogether, Governor McKinley made 871 
addresses, at least a third of them being lengthy ones, and 
on one dav he was led into speaking seventeen times. In 
this tour it should be borne in mind that the official func- 






1AFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 285 

ticn was entirely absent. It, was entirely different from 
the trips made by Presidents ( Jleveland and Harrison. The 
rush to see him and hear him was caused by the wish to see 
and to hear and to honor the greatest exponent of protec- 
tion, at the hour when protection appealed strongly to the 
hearts of the people. 

Samuel G. McClure, who was with McKinley a part 
of those seven weeks, says: " The combined tours far ex- 
ceeded a distance half around the world. It was one of the 
marvels of the man that he was able to undergo all the fa- 
tigue which this immense feat implies, and yet close the 
campaign in as good health as when he began, and with- 
out having lost a pound of weight. Very often he was the 
last of the little party to retire, and almost invariably he 
was the first to rise. He seemed tireless. Every State com- 
mittee in the Mississippi valley, and beyond it, apparently 
took it for granted that the gallant champion of patriotism, 
protection, and prosperity could not be overworked. When 
he consented to make one speech for them, they forthwith 
arranged half a dozen short stops en route, and kept him 
talking almost constantly from daybreak until late at night. 
He agreed to make forty-six set speeches in all during the 
campaign; when he had concluded, he had not only made 
them, but he had spoken at no less than three hundred and 
twenty-five other points as well. . . . On several oc- 
casions, as the special train was hurrying him along, he was 
called out for a talk before he had breakfasted, and would 
find, to his surprise, that one, two, or three thousand per- 
sons had gathered at that early hour to see and hear him. 
It was not McKinley who sought all this. Tt was the peo- 
ple who sought McKinley. 



286 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

On September 5th, he spoke at ten places in Indiana; 
October 1st, at St. Louis; the 2d at Kansas City, Missouri, 
and Kansas City, Kansas; the 3d, at twelve places in Kan- 
sas; the 4th, at seven places in Kansas, and six in Nebraska; 
the 5th, at thirteen places in Iowa; the 6th, at thirteen places 
in Iowa, and eight places in Minnesota; the 8th, at Duluth, 
Minnesota, and at Superior, Wisconsin; the "£)th, at fifteen 
places in Wisconsin; the 10th, at fifteen places in Illinois. 

The outpouring of people at Hutchinson, Kansas, 
eclipsed anything that McKinley had ever seen. The vis- 
itors began to arrive in the city the night before. Crowded 
specials were run on some of the railroads. McKinley's 
train reached Hutchinson at 3:45 p. m., and such was the 
crowd that it was considered unsafe to try to take him 
from the train at the station, so a stop was made half a mile 
out, where the party was met with carriages. But the 
crowd was upon him instantly — men, women, and chil- 
dren, caring nothing for the plunging horses nor the pro- 
tests of the policemen. The McKinley carriage was sur- 
rounded, and cut off from the others. The bands tried 
In play, but were lost and scattered in the crowd, and the 
people climbed up over the driver, on to the steps and the 
hubs of the turning wheels, even over the back of the car- 
riage, to grasp the hand of McKinley. The crowd, laugh- 
ing, assured him there was no danger, as the horses had no 
room to run away in, and McKinley laughed and reached 
out both his hands, which were passed from one to another 
of the enthusiastic Kansans. As the procession moved up 
the street, it was filled from curb to curb with men, women, 
and children, carriages and wagons of all descriptions. Tho 
facetious correspondents claimed that they were tired of es- 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 287 

timating the number in the crowd, and they proposed there- 
after to compute them by acres. Thirty-six hours was Mc- 
Kinley west of the Missouri river, and only six of those did 
he have to himself, when he could be free from making- 
speeches, shaking hands, and talking to those who came on 
the train to meet him. 

Blaine in his early days was a great campaigner, but he 
was always very careful and fearful of exhausting himself. 
He would plan his speaking engagements closely before 
beginning a campaign tour, and would seldom permit him- 
self to be crowded into extras at cross-road stations. To 
keep large appointments, and to be in condition for long 
speeches, he had to forego the fatigue of frequent stops for 
five-minute talks. But McKinley, with what seemed almost 
reckless disregard of his health, never disappointed an audi- 
ence if he could help it. His distinguishing quality as a 
campaigner is, that he is always ready, whether it is to talk 
from a car platform, to the mill hands going to work at 
seven o'clock in the morning, in the public square at the 
lunch hour, or by the railroad sidings, or in the opera hous : 
at night. Although provided with private cars, ostensibly 
for rest when occasion offered, they were of very little use 
to him for that purpose. They were almost constantly 

| crowded with admiring friends, who rendered rest impos- 
sible. A correspondent of a Cincinnati paper, in writing a 
summary of that notable campaign, said : 

" It has been estimated by those who have been with 

■ him that he has addressed two million people. The audi- 
ences which have flocked to hear McKinley have been enor- 

I mous. In many places the crowds that went to hear him 

Were the largest ever gathered in those places upon any oc- 
18 



288 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

casion. People traveled great distances to hear him. At 
Lincoln, Nebraska, there were among his hearers five hun- 
dred cowboys, who had ridden ninety miles on their mus- 
tangs for the sole purpose of hearing protection's chief 
exponent. At St. Louis there were several men in the au- 
dience who came three hundred miles from their homes 
in Dakota to hear him speak." 

The audience at Hutchinson, Kansas, numbered not less 
than thirty thousand people, coming from Texas, Nebraska, 
Missouri, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory. In many 
places, crowds were turned away before the doors of large 
halls. 

That year a number of appeals came from Louisiana 
protectionists for Mclvinley to visit New Orleans and make 
a speech. It did not seem possible, but finally after the 
fourth appeal from a representative, who had gone to Ohio 
to present it in person, McKinley consented to make the 
trip, canceling other engagements, as every available hour 
had been taken up. He started October 19th, on a special 
train, but there was little or no rest for him. A large 
crowd greeted him at Lexington, and speeches were made 
at several places. At Chattanooga, Mclvinley was called out 
to make a speech to an audience of over six thousand peo- 
ple. Even at places at which the train did not stop, people 
had gathered in large numbers to greet McKinley with flags 
and guns as he flew past. On the morning of the 20th, he 
arrived in New Orleans, and in the evening, in the immense 
auditorium built for the Fitzsimmons-IIall fight, seating 
over 0,000 people, he spoke for two hours upon the issues 
of the day, reviewing the whole tariff question, and closing 
with a patriotic and eloquent tribute to the Republican party. 






LIFE OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 289 

Thousands of men and women failed to gain admission to the 
immense ball, but cheered outside for the " Apostle of Pro- 
tection." The New Orleans papers the next morning were 
interesting reading. They treated McKinley fairly, and 
were strongly impressed with the popular greeting be bad 
received. The " Picayune " gave tins graphic account of 
tbe struggle which occurred at the close of the speech: 

" When tbe last words bad been uttered, a cheering and 
a shouting went up which shook tbe very rafters of tbe vast 
ball. Long and loud it was, being echoed and re-echoed 
until tbe din was perfectly deafening. Then before the 
sounds bad half subsided, and the speaker bad recovered bis 
composure after bis effort, some one of the horde around the 
press table made a break to mount tbe platform and shake 
the band of tbe expounder of tbe theory of protection. It 
was like applying a match to a powder keg. Instantly there 
were five hundred men bounding to tbe platform, and strug- 
gling and fighting among themselves to reach tbe center, 
where McKinley, almost smothered, and barely able to keep 
bis feet, was having both bands shaken at a rate that prob- 
ably made him think that he was walking on a treadmill 
on his hands. They pushed, and shoved, and howled, and 
cursed and yelled, until tbe scene was a perfect babel. The 
entire platform was one mass of struggling humanity, black, 
and white, and saffron, and the gentlemen who but a few 
moments before bad been sitting up there tbe very imper- 
sonation of dignity, were lost in tbe shuffle, and it would 
have been like bunting for a needle in a haystack to try to 
catch sight of any of them." 

After this dusty, hot, and hurried trip of over two 
thousand miles to make that single notable speech at New 



290 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Orleans, McKinley was hurried off to the coal districts of 
West Virginia, where a series of splendid meetings were 
held. They called it McKinley day in West Virginia. 
The twelve meetings averaged over two thousand people at 
each, and the aggregate number of people who heard him 
was estimated at thirty-two thousand. 

On the 24th of October he was welcomed again at Pitts- 
burg, the people turning out in regiments, not one-half 
being able to gain admission to the hall. As he walked 
upon the stage the vast audience broke into a long and 
hearty cheer, and kept it up, waving handkerchiefs and 
throwing up their hats until they were almost breathless, 
and the enthusiasm continued all through the brilliant 
speech which he made. On the 27th of October ten 
thousand people crowded around the platform at City Hall 
Square in Albany, to hear the great protectionist. His 
trip thence through New York was one continuous ovation. 

These are glimpses only of McTvinley's work in the 
campaign of 1894. The reports of the meetings as they 
appeared in the newspapers at the time would fill many 
large volumes. It was the most remarkable exhibition of 
popular enthusiasm, and the most remarkable exhibition 
of untiring energy in a man that has ever been seen in this 
country. It was by such hard work that McKinley won 
the reputation of having addressed more people than any 
other American statesman; and yet he always did it will- 
ingly, uncomplainingly, entering into the enthusiasm and 
feelings of the people about him, and taking their applause 
modestly, as if intended more for the party he represented 
than for himself. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

VOX POrULI — THE SWEEP OE THE TIDE OF PUBLIC 
OPINION — " McKlNLEY OUR NEXT PRESIDENT." 

Significance of a Popular Demand for One Man — The Turning of 
the Tide — Democratic Heavy Guns Turned on McKinley — 
McKinleyism Becomes a Badge of Honor — The Democrats 
Try to Make it a Term of Reproach — Why the People Flocked 
to See and Hear the Ohio Man — His Opportunity had Come — 
Republicans Everywhere Volunteer their Support — The Ohio 
Convention — His Candidacy Officially Announced — The 
Canvass Placed in Mark A. Hanua's Hands — Hanna's Busi- 
ness Sagacity — States Left Free to Express Themselves in 
their Own Way — The McKinley Managers — Every Effort to 
Check the Sentiment Strengthens it — Favorite Sons — A 
Majority of the Delegates. 

SELDOM in the history of political affairs is a plain, 
spontaneous, and irresistible demand made by the 
people for any one as a candidate for the presidency. 
Voters, under which ever party-Mae; training, have usually 
been divided in their preferences and the final choice 1 has 
been left to the exigencies of a convention of diverse ele- 
ments, and often has been reached only after long struggles. 
When a strong popular demand for any one man does ap- 
pear, there is a significance in it. Tt is something that can- 
not be trifled with. Xo cunningly devised obstacles inter- 
fere with it. All efforts to check it only strengthen it. 
When McKinley was making his marvelous campaign- 

(291) 



292 LIF E OF WILLIAM McKlNLEY. 

ing tour of 1894, and was everywhere greeted as " our 
next President," the tide had just begun to turn. In the 
midst of their financial and industrial depression they 
naturally and logically sought a man who embodied their 
ideas of a policy providing " a way out." Any good 
Republican statesman would have upheld this doctrine of 
protection, but no Republican statesman so embodies in his 
career and personality the sentiment of the people as 
William McKinley. Against him, as the leading exponent 
of protection, the Democrats had leveled their heaviest 
guns. Though a whole Congress was to be elected in 1890, 
the issue of McKinley's candidacy in a single Ohio district, 
nominally three thousand Democratic, was close enough 
to overshadow both here and in Europe all other results 
in the country. 

Republican protection was embodied in a measure which 
was known of all men, and spoken of by all, except Mc- 
Kinley himself, as " The McKinley Bill." McKinleyism 
became a word, an idea, an American policy. The Demo- 
crats sought to make it a term of reproach; the voters 
listened t) their wailings and followed the ignis fatuus of 
" tariff reform " into the woods. Swiftly came the penalty 
of deceiving a great people. In no way could they, now un- 
deceived, rebuke their deceivers so plainly, so effectually, 
as by hastening back and rallying about McKinley. In 
no other way could they express in one word the whole 
sum and substance of the policy they desired the govern- 
ment to pursue at the first available opportunity. They 
thought little of schedules; they did not need to. It was 
the McKinley principle that they sought, and when they 
looked t<> McKinley and studied him closer thev found not 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 293 

simply a man who represented the industrial policy they do- 
sired, but a plain man, always in touch with the people, one 
of them, with a faith in them that was an inspiration in 
itself. He became, in a sense, their hero. Journeying', 
many of them, long miles, they were actuated not simply by 
a wish to catch the sound of the voice and a glimpse of the 
features of the man who made, it seemed to them, McKinley 
prices and prosperity, but by a desire to honor one whom 
they had, as they thought, ill-treated, by deserting him 
to take up with Democratic tariff reform and depression. 
McKinley naturally saw and felt that his opportunity 
had come. In 1884- his voice had been raised with the 
people for Blaine; in 1888 for Sherman; in 1892 for Har- 
rison. In 181)4- the people raised their voice for McKinley. 
In 1888 he had thrust aside a nomination which might have 
been his to keep faith as a man with Sherman. In 1892, 
when his friends, and some who cared less for him than for 
the defeat of Harrison, again endeavored to nominate him, 
Ik 1 made the strongest possible protest in the convention. 
In either case, though the party would not have suffered, 
McKinley would not have been the nominee of the Republi- 
can masses so much as the nominee of the convention. 
McKinley is loyal to his friends, and is a man who waits 
for his opportunities, and then seizes them, if he thinks it 
is right. In 1894, he discovered their feelings and desires. 
He saw that they demanded him, and a demand made upon 
McKinley by the people is a demand always honored. The 
sentiment grew stronger. No one except those who have 
a knowledge of McKinley's correspondence in the past three 
years knows how Republicans everywhere, voluntarily and 
unconditionally, came to his support, and it was a support 



994 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

that any man of his character and position would be proud 
to have. 

In 1895, while the tide in his favor swept on with in- 
creasing strength, McKinley took a less active part in 
national politics, avoiding even the appearance of influenc- 
ing the current of events. He preferred that matters 
should take their own course, and deal with him as they 
would. While leading Republicans in various sections 
were " talking " McKinley for 1S96, the first official an- 
nouncement of his candidacy was made at the Ohio con- 
vention in 1895. The platform declared him to be Ohio's 
choice, and thus did Senator Foraker describe him as the 
man of the hour. 

" William McKinley is our own. He lives here in 
Ohio, and has always lived in our midst. He is our friend, 
our neighbor, our fellow-citizen, our fellow Republican. 
Shoulder to shoulder witli him we have been fighting the 
battles of Republicanism in this State for a generation. 
We know him and he knows us. We know his life, his 
character, his public services, and his fitness for the place 
for which he has been named. He has been our soldier 
comrade, our Representative in Congress, our Governor. 
By all these tokens, we, here, to-day, present him to the 
Republicans of the other sections of the Union as our 
choice, and ask them to make him theirs. In every com- 
munity, in every municipality, in every mill and mine and 
furnace and forge and workshop, everywhere throughout 
this broad land where capital is invested, or labor is em- 
ployed, William McKinley is the ideal American states- 
man, the typical American leader, and the veritable Ameri- 
can idol. No man ever, in public life in this country, en- 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 295 

joyed such universal popularity as his. Xo man in this 
country, in public life, ever commanded, as he now com- 
mands, the affections of the great mass of the voters of this 
country. Blameless in private life, useful and illustrious 
in public life, his name, in our judgment, will inspire more 
confidence, excite more enthusiasm, and give greater 
guarantee of success than any other name that can bo 
inscribed on the Republican banner." 

The friendship formed between Mark A. Ilanna, of 
Cleveland, and William McKinley, when, early in the 
hitter's career, he secured the acquittal of several unruly 
miners, charged with setting fire to Hanna's property, was 
never shaken, but had increased with years. McKinley 
admired Hanna's qualities as a business man as much as 
ITanna admired McKinley's qualities as a statesman. Mc- 
Kinley placed the details of his candidacy in Hanna's 
hands, knowing that they would be cared for with an honesty 
such as he desired, and a thoroughness such as Hanna was 
capable of. Associated with Ilanna were some shrewd men, 
including Major Dick and ex-Librarian J. P. Smith, of the 
State of Ohio, and long associated with McKinley. 

It is sufficient to say of the remarkably successful cam- 
paign of 1896, that it was based on the principle that the 
people desired McKinley. Everywhere they were left, 
practically free to express their wishes in their own way. 
The closest watch was kept on affairs as they progressed iu 
different States. ITanna and his associates were in contact 
and close touch with McKinley men in every State, and 
knew the peculiarities of local politics everywhere, but 
their efforts were devoted more to insuring a free public 
choice than to influencing it. 



296 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

In every State McKinley managers were chosen; 
through these, and these alone, did Ilanna represent Mc- 
Kinley \s interests, but the managers, as we have said, were 
left to conduct the campaign for McKinley, each in his own 
State as he thought best. 

The course of the campaign is recent history, and famil- 
ial- to all. The most daring efforts to circumvent Mc- 
Kinley's nomination failed, and their effect was in every 
case to strengthen his hold upon the people. The number 
of States that instructed their delegates for McKinley was 
unusual. The Republican masses determined to take no 
chances with the convention, but to have their will regis- 
tered at the very beginning. Other good men were 
candidates, men whom the party would have delighted to 
honor under other circumstances, and the fact that Speaker 
Reed and Senator Allison failed to find large support was 
not because they were not admired and honored by the peo- 
ple everywhere, but because they sought McKinley and 
none other. 

Other men who were induced to enter the campaign as 
favorite sous discovered that, however much their States 
might like to have them, the people could not be tempted 
away from McKinley. Two months before the convention 
met, more than a majority of the delegates to the convention 
favorable to McKinley was elected, a fact almost un- 
paralleled in the history of the Republican party, and the 
campaign for the nomination was practically over. 

Xo campaign of this magnitude was ever conducted 
without some manifestation of bitterness, but none came 
from McKinley. A strong effort was made by enemies in 
the Democratic party, seconded to some extent by friends 



LIKE OF WILLIAM MeKINLEY. 297 

of other candidates in his own party, to throw suspicion on 
his views. But no public man has so often, or to so many 
people, or so unequivocally, expressed his views. In the 
midst of these efforts McKinley maintained a dignified atti- 
tude, remaining most of the time at. Canton, and denying 
an audience to no one. lie was determined to allow the 
people to arrange matters in their own way, and provide 
their own platform. From the beginning he maintained 
his absolute confidence in the judgment of the people upon 
his record and upon his candidacy. 






CHAPTER XXVII. 

McKINLEY'S NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT— SCENES AT 
THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OF 1896. 

Culmination of a Popular Movement — Story of the Great Republi- 
can Convention at St. Louis — Roll Call for Nominations — 
Foraker Nominates McKinley — The Mention of his Name 
Followed by a Half Hour of Cheering — A Pandemonium of 
Cheers and Shouts — An Animated Scene — Unavailing Efforts 
of the Chair to Restore Order — Fifteen Thousand People Sing 
Patriotic Songs — The Nomination. Seconded by Senator Thurs- 
ton — His Brilliant Speech — "The Shibboleth for this Cam- 
paign is ' Protection ' " — A Good Story — " Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
We Bring the Jubilee !" — Result of the Ballot — McKinley 
Receives 661% Votes — Cheers and Huzzas Rend the Air — 
^hiking the Nomination Unanimous — Chauncey M. Depew's 
Felicitous Speech. 

NO convention in its history has revealed the strength 
of the Republican party as an organization of the 
progressive people who contribute to the welfare and 
growth Of the United States, more distinctly than the con- 
vention which was culled to order at noon, dime 16th, in the 
city of St. Louis. That history started with Fremont in 1856. 
Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Blaine, and Harrison fol- 
lowed. Notable were some of the conventions which made 
these men the standard bearers. Bui in the elements which 
reveal the vitality and permanence of principle, the growth 
of power and influence, the mighty force which shapes 

( 298 ) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M.KINLEY. 299 

events, no convention was ever more notable <>r inspiring 
than that which nominated William McKinlev. Never 
did delegates assemble with so many earnest people of the 
nation behind them. 

It is not the purpose here to rehearse the details of the 
preliminary work, the organization, and the many stirring 
incidents of that convention still fresh in the minds of the 
people. It was the culmination of the popular movement 
begun three years before to restore the Republican party to 
power, and to place the standard in McKinley's hands. 
Democratic newspapers strove to magnify the incidental 
skirmishes by conflicting interests either in the settlement 
of contested cases, the phraseology of a declaration of the 
enduring principles of the party, or in the rivalry of candi- 
dates, but in their zeal and desperation they even passed' 
beyond the bounds of safety in misrepresentation. An in- 
telligent people was not deceived. It was a convention to 
make every Republican proud of his party, and the devo- 
tion of its leaders to its principles and to its success was ac- 
knowledged by even the most hostile newspaper critics. 

As temporary chairman, Charles W. Fairbanks of Indi- 
ana delivered an eloquent address, appropriately reviewing 
the conditions which had led to the present strength of the 
party with the people, and the regular committees were 
chosen. At the morning session on Wednesday, Senator 
J. M. Thurston of Nebraska was chosen permanent chair- 
man, lie is one of the most eloquent speakers of the day, 
and in a brief speech he concisely and impressively stated 
what a Republican administration would mean. When he 
closed with the words, "a deathless loyalty to all thai is 
truly American, and a patriotism as eternal as the stars," 



300 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 

the air was rent with cheers. The day was consumed in 
routine matters, chiefly the discussion and settlement of a 
few cases of contesting delegations. 

The great day of the convention was Thursday. All 
the delegates and a mighty audience gathered in the knowl- 
edge that the real business for which the delegates had 
gathered was at hand. There were 15,000 people crowded 
together under the vast roof. It was a scene no other gov- 
ernment in the world affords. At 2 o'clock Chairman 
Thurston directed the call of states for nominations for Pres- 
ident. Iowa was the first to respond, R. M. Baldwin of 
Council Bluffs going to the platform and gracefully pre- 
senting the name of Senator W. B. Allison. Senator Lodge 
nominated Speaker Thomas B. Reed in a forcible speech, 
which was loudly applauded. The nomination was second- 
ed by Charles E. Littlefield of Maine. A round of cheers 
greeted Chauncey M. Depew as he rose to present the name 
of Levi P. Morton, which he did in one of his eloquent and 
pleasing speeches, eliciting frequent applause. 

Then the call of the roll continued — Xorth Carolina, 
North Dakota, Ohio — ex-Governor Poraker rose and 
went to the platform amid applause which revealed the feel- 
ing of the great convention and the vast audience. Pora- 
ker had nominated McTCinley in State conventions, but never 
under such inspiring circumstances as these. He is one of 
the most powerful speakers in a country which, in spite 
of disparaging critics, abounds in eloquent men. 

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: It would be 
exceedingly difficult, if not entirely impossible, to exaggerate the 
disagreeable situation of the Inst four years. The grand aggregate 
of the multitudinous bad results of a Democratic National Ad- 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKLXLEY. ;;()1 

ministration may be summed up as one stupendous disaster. It 
has been a disaster, however, not without, at least, this one re- 
deeming feature — that it has been fair; nobody has escaped. 
(Loud laughter.) 

It has fallen equally and alike on all sections of the country and 
on all classes of our people; the just and the unjust, the Republi- 
can and the Democrat, the rich and the poor, the high and the 
low have suffered in common. Poverty and distress have over- 
taken business; shrunken values have dissipated fortunes; defi- 
ciencies of revenue have impoverished the government, while 
bond issues and bond syndicates have discredited and scandalized 
the country- 
Over against that fearful penalty is, however, to be set down 
one great, blessed compensatory result — it has destroyed the 
Democratic party. (Cheers and laughter.) The proud columns 
which swept the country in triumph in 1892 are broken and hope- 
less in 1896. Their boasted principles, when put to the test, have 
proved to be delusive fallacies, and their great leaders have 
degenerated into warring chieftains of petty and irreconcilable 
factions. Their approaching national convention is but an ap- 
proaching national nightmare. No man pretends to be able to 
predict any good result to come from it. And no man is seeking 
the nomination of that convention except only the limited few 
who have advertised their unfitness for any kind of a public trust 
by proclaiming their willingness to stand on any sort of a plat- 
form that may be adopted. (Laughter.) 

The truth is, the party which would stand up under the odium 
of human slavery, opposed to the war for the preservation of the 
Union, to emancipation, to enfranchisement, to reconstruction and 
to specie resumption is at last to be overmatched and undone by 
itself. It is writhing in the throes and agonies of final dissolution. 
No human agency can pi'event its absolute overthrow at the next 
election, except only this convention. If we make no mistake 
here, the Democratic party will go out of power on the 4th day 
of March, 1897 (applause), to remain out of power until God. in 
His infinite wisdom and mercy and goodness, shall see fit once 
more to chastise His people. (Loud laughter and applause.) 



302 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Si i far we have not made any mistake. We have adopted a 
platform which, notwithstanding the scene witnessed in this hall 
this morning, meets the demands and expectations of the American 
people. 

It remains for us now, as the last crowning act of our work, 
to meet again that same expectation in the nomination of our 
candidates. What is that expectation V What is it that the people 
want? They want as their candidate something more than "a 
good husiness man." They want something more than a popular 
leader. They want something more than a wise and patriotic 
statesman. They want a man who embodies in himself not only 
all these essential qualifications, but those, in addition, which, 
in the highest possible degree, typify in name, in character, in 
record, in ambition, in purpose, the exact opposite of all that is 
signified and represented by that free-trade, deficit-making, bond- 
issuing, labor-assassinating, Democratic Administration. (Cheers.) 
I stand here to present to this convention such a man. His name 
is William McKinley. 

At the mention of McKinley's name, over 10,000 
jumped to their feet. Spontaneous and unrestrained was 
the pandemonium of cheers and shouts. Red, white, and 
blue plumes suddenly blossomed forth all over the vast 
hall, and waved in the air. The band tried in vain to com- 
pete with the demonstration, but at last strains of 
" Marching Through Georgia " caught the ears of the 
crowd, and they joined in the chorus and gradually quieted 
down. 

Then a portrait of McKinley was hoisted on a line with 
the United States flag on the gallery facing the platform, 
and the cheering began over again, to ■which the band re- 
sponded by playing " Rally Round the Flag," the conven- 
tion joining in the chorus. 

After at least twelve minutes of this kind of proceeding 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 303 

the Chair began to rap for a restoration of order, but with- 
out avail. 

Senator-elect Foraker stood during all this wild scene 
smiling his approval. Mr. Hepburn of Iowa had in the 
meantime been called to the chair by Senator Thurston, 
but just when he had nearly restored order, a woman 
from California, who had presented the plumes in honor 
of Ohio's choice, made her appearance on the floor, 
waving one of them, and another uncontrollable outbreak of 
apparently temporary insanity occurred. During the inter- 
val of confusion, a three-quarter face, full-size sculptured 
bust of McKinley was presented to Mr. Foraker by the Re- 
publican Club of the University of Chicago. The portrait 
was in a mahogany frame, decorated with red, white, and 
blue ribbons, and with a bow of maroon-colored ribbons 
forming the colors of the university. 

After twenty -five minutes of incessant turmoil, Mr. For- 
aker was allowed to resume his speech. He spoke of the 
great champions of Republicanism in the past, eulogizing 
Mr. Blaine particularly, and continued: 

But, greatest of all. measured by pi'esent requirements, is the 
leader of the House of Representatives, the author of the McKinley 
bill, which gave to labor its richest awards. No other name so 
completely meets the requirements of the occasion, and no other 
name so absolutely commands all hearts. The shafts of envy 
and malice and slander and libel and detraction that have been 
aimed at him lie broken and harmless at his feet. The quiver 
is empty, and he is untouched. That is because the people know 
him, trust him, believe in him, love him, and will not permit any 
human power to disparage him unjustly in their estimation. 

They know that he is an American of Americans. They 

know that he is just and able and brave, and they want him for 
19 



304 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

President of the United States. (Applause.) They have already 
shown it — not in this or that State, nor in this or that section, 
but in all the States and in all the sections from ocean to ocean, 
and from the gulf to the lakes. They expect of you to give them 
a chance to vote for him. It is our duty to do it. If we discharge 
that duty we will give joy to their hearts, enthusiasm to their 
souls, and triumphant victory to our cause. (Applause.) And he, 
in turn, will give us an administration under which the country 
will enter on a new era of prosperity at home and of glory and 
honor abroad, by all these tokens of the present and all these 
promises of the future. In the name of the forty-six delegates of 
Ohio, I submit his claim to your consideration. (More applause.) 

Senator Thurston of Nebraska was recognized by Tem- 
porary Chairman Hepburn, and seconded the nomination 
of McKinley. He spoke as follows: 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: This is the 
year of the people. They are conscious of their power; they are 
tenacious of their right; they are supreme in this convention; they 
are certain of victory now in November. 

They have framed the issue of this campaign. What is it ? 
Money ? Yes, money ! Not that which is coined for the mine 
owner at the mint or clipped by the coupon-cutter from the bond, 
but that which is created by American muscle on the farms and in 
the factories. The western mountains clamor for silver and the 
eastern seashore cries for gold, but the millions ask for work — 
an opportunity to labor and to live. 

Tin 1 prosperity of a nation is in the employment of its people, 
and, thank Cod ! the electors of the United States know this great 
economic (ruth at last. The Republican party does not stand for 
Neveda or New York alone, but for both; not for one State, but for 
.•ill. Its platform is as broad as the land, as national as the flag. 
Republicans arc definitely committed to sound currency, but they 
believe that in a government of the people the welfare of men is 
paramount to the interests of money. Their shibboleth for this 
campaign is " Protection." From the vantage-ground of their 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKLNLEY. 305 

own selection they cannot bo stampeded by Wall-Street panics 
or free-coinage cyclones. Reports of international complications 
and rumors of war pass tbem lightly by; they know that the real 
enemy of American prosperity is free trade, and the best coast 
defense is a protective tariff. They do not fear the warlike 
preparations of Europe, but they do fear its cheap manufactures. 
Their real danger is not from foreign navies carrying guns, but 
from foreign fleets bringing goods. 

This is the year of the people. They have risen in their might. 
From ocean to ocean, from lake to gulf, they are united as never 
before. We know their wishes and are here to register their will. 
They must not be cheated of their choice. They know the man 
best qualified and equipped to fight their battles and to win their 
victories. His name is in every heart, on every tongue. His 
nomination is certain, his election sure. His candidacy will sweep 
the country as a prairie is swept by fire. 

This is the year of the people. In their name, by their authority, 
I second the nomination of their great champion, William Mc- 
Kiuley. Not as a favorite son of any State, but as the favorite son 
of the United States. Not as a concession to Ohio, but as an 
added honor to the nation. 

When this country called to arms, he took into his boyish 
hands a musket and followed the flag, bravely baring his breast 
to the hell of battle, that it might float serenely in the Union 
sky. For a quarter of a century he has stood in the fierce light 
of public place, and his robes of office are spotless as the driven 
snow. He has cherished no higher ambition than the honor of 
his country and the welfare of the plain people. Steadfastly, 
courageously, victoriously, and with tongue of fire he has pleaded 
their cause. His labor, ability, and perseverance have enriched the 
statutes of the United States with legislation in their behalf. 
All his contributions to the masterpieces of American oratory 
are the outpourings of a pure heart and a patriotic purpose. His 
God-given powers are consecrated to the advancement and renown 
of his own country, and to the uplifting and ennobling of his own 
countrymen. He has the courage of his convictions, and cannot 



306 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 

be tempted to woo success or avert defeat by any sacrifice of 
principle or concession to popular clamor. 

In the hour of Republican disaster, when other leaders were 
excusing and apologizing, he stood steadfastly by that grand legis- 
lative act which bore Ins name, confidently submitting his case 
to the judgment of events, and calmly waiting for that triumphal 
vindication whose laurel this convention is impatient to place upon 
his brow. 

Strengthened and seasoned by long Congressional service, 
broadened by the exercise of important executive powers, master 
of the great economic questions of the age, eloquent, single- 
hearted and sincere, he stands to-day the most conspicuous and 
commanding character of this generation, divinely ordained, as 
I believe for a great mission, to lead this people out from the 
shadow of adversity into the sunshine of a new and enduring 
prosperity. 

Omnipotence never sleeps. Every great crisis brings a leader. 
For every supreme hour Providence finds a man. The necessities 
of '9(5 are almost as great as those of '61. True, the enemies of the 
nation have ceased to threaten with the sword, and the Constitu- 
tion of the United States no longer tolerates that shackles shall 
fret the limbs of men, but free trade and free coinage hold no 
less menace to American progress than did the armed hosts of 
treason and rebellion. If the voice of the people is indeed the 
voice of Cod, then William McKinley is the complement of Abra- 
ham Lincoln. Yea, and he will issue a new Emancipation Procla- 
mation to the enslaved sons of toil, and they shall be lifted up 
into the full enjoyment of those privileges, advantages, and op- 
portunities that belong of right to the American people. 

Under his administration we shall command the respect of the 
nations of the earth; the American flag will never be hauled down; 
the rights of American citizenship will be enforced: abundant 
revenues provided; foreign merchandise will remain abroad; our 
gold be kept at home; American institutions will ln> cherished and 
upheld; all governmental obligations scrupulously kept, and on the 
escutcheon of the republic will be indelibly engraved the Ameri- 
can policy, "Protection, Reciprocity, and Sound Money." 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 307 

My countrymen: Let not your hearts be troubled; the darkest 
hour is just before the day; the morning of the twentieth century 
will dawn bright and clear. Lift up your hopeful faces and receive 
the light; the Republican party is coming back to power, and 
William McKinley will be President of the United States. 

In an inland manufacturing city, on election night, November, 
'94, after the wires had continued the news of a sweeping Republi- 
can victory, two workingmen started to climb to the top of a great 
smokeless chimney.' 

That chimney had been built by the invitation and upon the 
promise of Republican protective legislation. In the factory over 
which it toweled was employment for twice a thousand ineu. Its 
mighty roar had heralded the prosperity of a whole community. 
It had stood a cloud by day and a pillar of tire by night for a busy, 
industrious, happy people. Now bleak, blackened, voiceless, and 
dismantled, like a grim spectre of evil, it frowned down upou the 
hapless city, where poverty, idleness, stagnation, and want attested 
the complete disaster of the free trade experiment. 

Up and up and up they climbed, watched by the breathless 
multitude below. Up and up and up, until at last they stood upon 
its summit; and there in the glare of the electric lights, cheered by 
the gathered thousands, they unfurled and nailed an American flag. 
Down in the streets strong men wept — the happy tears of hope — 
and mothers, lifting up their babes, invoked the blessing of the 
flag; and then impassioned lips burst forth in song — the hallelujah 
of exulting hosts, the mighty paean of a people's joy. That song. 
the enthusiastic millions yet sing, 

Hurrah ! Hurrah ! we bring the jubilee; 
Hurrah ! Hurrah ! the flag that makes us free; 
So we sing the chorus from the mountain to the sea; 
Hurrah for McKinley and Protection. 

Over the city that five Hag waved, caressed by the passing 
breeze, kissed by the silent stars. And there the first glad sunshine 
of the morning fell upon it, luminous and lustrous with the tidings 
of Republican success. 

On behalf of those stalwart workmen, and all the vast army 



308 LIFE 0F william Mckinley. 

of American toilers; that their employment may be certain; their 
wages just, their dollars the best in the civilized world; on behalf 
of that dismantled chimney and the deserted factory .at its base; 
that the furnaces may once more flame, the mighty wheels revolve, 
the whistles scream, the anvils ring, the spindles hum; on behalf 
of the thousand cottages round about, and all the humble homes 
of this broad land; that comfort and contentment may again abide, 
the firesides glow, the women sing, the children laugh; yes. and on 
behalf of that American flag and all it stands for and represents; 
for the honor of every stripe, for the glory of every star; that its 
power may till the earth and its splendor span the sky, I ask the 
nomination of that loyal American, that Christian gentleman, 
soldier, statesman, patriot, William McKinley. 

After Governor Hastings of Pennsylvania put Senator 
Quay in nomination, and a few other speeches were made 
for various candidates, the voting began. Rapidly as the 
states were called did the McKinley total approach a ma- 
jority. AVhen Ohio, his own State, was reached, McKinley 
had the requisite number, and the convention again broke 
into cheers, but the roll call continued. 

In a moment Chairman Thurston announced that Wil- 
liam McKinley had received 661 1-2 votes, and the scene of 
an hour before was repeated. Delegates and spectators 
arose and cheered, and waved Hags and banners, and the 
pampas plumes of California; the band struck up " My 
Country, 'Tis of Thee," and cheers and huzzas rent the air. 
There was not a single one of the fifteen or sixteen thousand 
people in 1 lie great hall who did not do his or Iter best to swell 
the sounds of jubilee, and t<> join in the grand popular dem- 
onstration in favor of the successful candidate. The wo- 
men were as enthusiastic as the men. Tt seemed as if no 
one would be seated again, and as if orderly proceedings 






LIFE OF WILLIAM MeKIXLEJf. 3()9 

would never more be attempted. One young man on the 
platform waved, on the point of the National banner, a 
cocked hat such as the conqueror of Marengo is represented 
as wearing. This symbol of victory added, if possible, to 
the enthusiasm, and the noise was swelled by the booming 
Of artillery outside. 

At last the presiding officer got a chance to continue his 
announcement of the vote. Thomas B. Reed, he said, had 
received 84 1-2 votes; Senator Quay, (il 1-2; Levi P. Mor- 
ton, 58; Senator Allison, :>."> 1-2; and Don Cameron, 1. 

Senator Lodge, rising in his delegation, and standing 
upon his chair, said: " Mr. Chairman, the friends of Mr. 
Reed have followed him with the same loyalty which he has 
always shown himself to country, and principle, and party. 
That loyalty they now transfer to the soldier, the patriot, 
the American, whom you have nominated here to-day, and 
on behalf of my own State, and I believe of all the other Xew 
England States that supported Mr. Reed, we pledge a great 
majority in our own States, and our assistance to other States 
and all the help we can render for Mr. William MeKinlev. 
[ ( 'heel's.] I move you, sir, that the nomination of William 
MeKinlev may be made unanimous. [Cheers.] 

Mr. Hastings of Pennsylvania, who had nominated Sen- 
ator Quay, seconded the motion to make Mr. McKinley's 
nomination unanimous. Pennsylvania, he said, with the 
loyalty which always distinguished her, would become the 
champion of the champion of protection to American indus- 
try, William McKinley, and would welcome the issue of 
American protection, American credit, American policy, 
and give to William McKinley the largest majority that 
she had ever given to a Republican candidate. [Cheers.] 



310 LIFE UF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Thomas C. Piatt, on behalf of the State of New York, 
also seconded the motion to make William McKinley's nom- 
ination unanimous, and declared that Xew York would give 
its usual if not double its usual majority for the Republican 
candidate. 

Mr. Henderson of Iowa also seconded the nomination of 
William McKinley. The Convention, he said, had elected 
a national committee to run the coming campaign, but it 
was not needed. The Republicans of the country would 
run the next campaign. [Cheers and laughter.] It was 
they who made the nomination, and not Mark Hanna or 
General Grosvenor. [More cheers.] The States, he said, 
would give McKinley a majority unprecedented in Ameri- 
can history. By the authority of the distinguished senator 
from Iowa, Senator Allison, and in obedience to the instruc- 
tions of the Iowa delegation, he seconded the motion to 
make Major McKinley the unanimous choice of the Repub- 
licans of the United States. [Applause.] 

Yielding to the vociferous calls for a speech, Mr. De- 
pew mounted his chair in the back part of the hall, where 
the rays of the sun were beaming on his countenance, which 
was itself beaming with joy and good humor, and said: 

I am in the happy position now of making a speech for the 
man who is going to be elected. (Laughter and applause.) It is a 
great thing for an amateur, when Lis first nomination has failed, 
to come in and second the man who has succeeded. Now York is 
here, with no bitter feeling and with no disappointment. Wo recog- 
nize thai the waves have submerged us, but we have bobbed up 
serenely, (bond laughter.) It was a cannon from New York that 
sounded first the news of McKinley's nomination. They said of 
Governor Morton's father that he was a New England clergyman, 
Who brought up a family of ten children on $:>00 a year, and was, 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 311 

notwithstanding, gifted in prayer. (Laughter.) It does not make 
any difference how poor he may be, how out of work, how ragged, 
how next door to a tramp anybody may be in the United States to- 
night, he will he " gifted in prayer " at the result of this eonven- 
tioii. (Cheers and Laughter.) 

There is a principle dear to the American heart. It is the 
principle which moves American spindles, starts its industries, 
and makes the wage-earners sought for, instead of seeking em- 
ployment. That principle is embodied in McKinley. His personal- 
ity explains the nomination to-day, and his personality will carry 
into the presidential chair the aspirations of the voters of America, 
of the families of America, of the homes of America, protection to 
American industry and America for Americans. (Cheers.) 

The Chair put the question, " Shall the nomination be 
iiunU 1 unanimous ? " and by a rising vote it was so ordered, 
and the Chair announced that William McKinley of Ohio 
was the candidate of the Republican party for President of 
the United States. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

how Mckinley received the news of his nomina- 
tion—wild DEMONSTRATIONS OF JOY AT CANTON 
-REJOICING THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. 

Preparations at Canton for Receiving the News — Connecting 
McKinley's Residence with the Convention Hall by Telephone 

— Awaiting the News — An Expectant Little Circle — Thp 
dieting Telegraph at Work — McKinley Coolly Reads the 
Despatches — His Comments upon Them — The Vote — Jotting 
Down the Fateful Figures — McKinley's Nomination Assured 

— The Boom of a Distant Cannon — A Notable Celebration — 
Receiving Congratulations — McKinley's Reply to his Neigh- 
bor's Address — He is Deeply Moved — Called upon by a New 
York Delegation — McKinley's Welcome to Them — " Keep 
Close to the People " — The Great Principle which has Given 
us •' Plenty and Prosperity." 

WHILE the occurrences related in the preceding 
chapter were taking place, McKinley remained 
quietly — or ;is quietly as circumstances would 
permit — at Ins borne in Canton. His townsmen, confident 
of his nomination in the convention, made extensive prepar- 
ations for ;i demonstration of their joy, to begin at the very 
moment the result was known. The rival telegraph com- 
panies made elaborate preparations for conveying to Can- 
ton the news of the convention, and a long distance tele- 
phone connected (lie convention 1ml 1 with Major McKinley's 

residence, with an experl at either end. 

(312) 







BIRTHPLACE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY AT NILES, OHIO. 
HIS PRESENT RESIDENCE AT CANTON, OHIO. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 315 

During the proceedings of that final and that historic 
dav of the convention, McKinley sat in a rocking chair in 
the office at his residence, to all appearances the same calm 
and unconcerned man he always was in moments of supreme 
importance. About him were some of his Canton friends 
and newspaper correspondents, with oo restraints upon their 
liberty, free to join the expectant little circle or the com- 
forts of the spacious veranda. In the room across the hall 
were Mother McKinley, bravely carrying her eighty-six 
years, and Mrs. McKinley, smiling a welcome to all. 

Despatch after despatch fell from the clicking telegraph 
instruments. The major coolly read them, commented 
upon them, and talked interestingly at intervals of previous 
conventions. The long discussions over contested cases 
and over the financial plank were received impatiently by 
some of his friends, but the major laughingly consoled them. 

When at last, after a lunch, at which Mrs. McKinley 
presided, the time for the nominating speeches came, Mc- 
Kinley took a position by the telephone, at which was seated 
the expert operator. Finally word came that Foraker was 
to speak; then the operator told the eager audience how 
that the moment Foraker mentioned McKinley's name, 
the whole convention was in an uproar of applause. 
The minutes passed. " They are keeping it up," said the 
operator. The major told his friends of cheering contests 
he had heard in other conventions. Then he stepped to 
the instrument and listened a moment to the roar of ap- 
plause and cheering, which was darted through the slender 
wire, over the rolling fields of three States, from the conven- 
tion hall to Canton. Finally Foraker resumed, and his 
words were repeated to the little circle. 



31«J LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

Then came the vote. McKinley, tablet in hand, jotted 
down the fateful figures as they were announced. " Ohio 
forty-six for McKinley." That settled it. It was a ma- 
jority. The major calmly walked across the hall to the 
room where the anxious ladies were gathered, and kissed 
his wife and aged mother. 

At the same instant, the boom of a cannon shook the 
house. Canton had begun it.s celebration. In a moment, 
great processions of people were hurrying to the major's 
house, and the major received them as he always receives 
them, as proud of them as they are of him. 

In a short time a parade was moving. Several thou- 
sand were in line, the Grand Army posts leading, and citi- 
zens with banners, badges, and other campaign parapher- 
nalia, falling in behind. A conspicuous part was made up 
of all the commercial travelers in ( Janton hotels, who got up 
an organization as the returns came in. 

When the crowd massed about the McKinley home in 
North Market street, a well-known manufacturer, a mem- 
ber of the Stark county bar, and a representative citizen, 
who had been chosen by the committee as spokesman, in 
these words addressed Mr. McKinley: 

"Major McKinley: Your neighbors and townsmen 
wish to be the first to congratulate you upon your nomina- 
tion to the highest office within the gift of the people. None 
know better th;m these neighbors assembled how well this 
honor i- merited. They were the first to witness the begin- 
ning of your public career. They saw you quit your aca- 
demic studies with the ardor of youth and bravery beyond 
your year- to devote your services to your country. The 
roiirage ami ability you then displayed, promise of what 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 317 

followed in later years, won for you that rank and title of 
which we have so long and familiarly addressed you. 

" A few of your veteran comrades have again formed 
in line, and, joining the citizens of Canton, take this op- 
portunity to make pronounced their high regard for you. 
The ability and fidelity with which you have discharged 
great public trusts, and the recognition by your country- 
men of long and useful service to the State and nation, are 
exceedingly gratifying to your Canton and Stark county 
friends, and as welcome to your neighbors without dis- 
tinction of party. 

" Bearing it in mind that while you have acted in a 
broader field, you have not lost sight of the duties and obli- 
gations of the citizen, and with your many cares and respon- 
sibilities, you have always found time and opportunity to 
lend your valued assistance to all that makes for good in 
your community, we all unite in extending to you our 
hearty congratulations and good wishes." 

Major McKinley listened attentively, and was visibly af- 
fected. His voice trembled a little as he began his response. 
He has been used to speaking to throngs, however, and soon 
made himself heard by hundreds. He said: 

"Fellow Citizens, and Friends: I am profoundly 
moved as well as greatly honored by this demonstration. 
Non-partisan as it is in character, politics must be forbid- 
den, and T only appear for the purpose of making grateful 
acknowledgment to your address and congratulations. I 
am not indifferent at the pleasure which you exhibit at the 
news just received from the Republican National conven- 
tion. For days your interest has been centered upon St. 
Louis, and your presence in such vast numbers here testifies 



318 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKlNLEY. 

not only to your good will, but to your gratification at the 
work there clone. 

" Your cordial assurances are all the more appreciated 
because they come from my fellow citizens of all parties 
and all creeds — my old neighbors, my former constituents, 
my comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, with 
whom I have lived almost a lifetime, and who have repeated- 
ly bestowed upon me offices of great and important trust. 
Your warm words, Mr. Chairman, are more than recipro- 
cated on my part, and will be long cherished and remem- 
bered. 

" Many of those around me have not always agreed 
with me nor I with them politically, but it is pleasant, as I 
look into your faces this beautiful day, to be able to recall 
that there has never been a moment of time in all the years 
of the past that you, irrespective of party, have withheld 
from me your friendship, your confidence, and your en- 
couragement. You have always been generously loyal, 
and my heart to-day is full of gratitude to you all. 

" There is nothing more gratifying or honorable that 
can come to any man than to have the regard and esteem of 
his fellow townsmen. And in this I have been peculiarly 
blessed. Never wen 1 neighbors more devoted, never friend- 
ship so unfaltering as yours has been. You have always 
made my cause your cause, and my home among you has 
been one of increasing pleasure. This city, and this goodly 
old county of Stark are very near and dear to me. T came 
here a young man. 1 have spent with you all of my young 
manhood, and I have been identified with this magnificent 
city and county for nearly a third of a century. 1 have 
followed its growth with unconcealed pride, and have noted 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 319 

with satisfaction that it. has kept pace with the most ad- 
vanced and prosperous communities, and has fallen behind 
none. 

" I am glad, my neighbors and fellow citizens, to greet 
you here. Yon have never failed to greet me with your 
best wishes and congratulations upon every occasion of my 
nomination to public office, commencing more than twenty 
years ago, when I was first named for Congress by my party. 
I cannot undertake to estimate the value of these many 
friendly demonstrations. They were so helpful; they were 
so stimulating; they were so encouraging; more than you 
could have anticipated or believed at the time. 

'.' Your call to-day is warmly appreciated. I have no 
words adequately to express my appreciation of it. I thank 
yon, Mr. Chairman, from the bottom of my heart, for what 
you have said as expressive of the feelings of those for whom 
you speak; and this, the latest evidence of your esteem, 
makes me more than ever indebted to yon, and the happy 
memory of your kindness and friendship will abide with 
me forever." 

But the celebration at Canton had only begun. Resi- 
dences and business places were gayly decorated. Delega- 
tion after delegation arrived to tender formal congratula- 
tions. The next evening a large delegation of New Yorkers 
stopped on their return from St. Louis. Warner Miller 
was their spokesman. In welcoming them, McKinley said : 
My fellow citizens of New York, it gives me great pleasure 
to meet and greet you here at my home to-day. It was most 
generous on your part to have paused on your journey to 
the East long enough to have stopped to give me the pleas- 
ure of meeting you face to face. Nothing could be more 



320 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 



agreeable to me than to be presented to the members of the 
McKinley League of the State of New York by my old 
friend, long a member of the House of Representatives at 
Washington, Senator Miller. 

" All we have to do this year, my fellow citizens, is to 
keep close to the people [loud cheering], hearken to the 
voice of the people, have faith in the people, and if we do 
that the people will win for us a triumph for that great 
masterful principle which in all years of the past has given 
us plenty and prosperity." 

jSTot in Canton alone were the evidences of popular 
rejoicing and enthusiasm. In every city in the country 
the nomination was received with demonstrations of ap- 
proval, of enthusiasm, and of confidence in the future of the 
Republican party and the country. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

McKINLEY'S HOME LIFE — HIS DEVOTION TO HIS WIFE 
AND AGED MOTHER. 

Present Home of Major and Mrs. McKinley at Canton — The 
House to which he Took his Wife as a Bride — Domestic 
A mictions — Where their Children Died — A Home around 
which Sacred Associations Cluster — McKinley's Work-room 
— How it is Furnished — The Touch of a Woman's Hand 
Every where — Enormous Daily Mail — His Kindliness and 
Manliness — How he Receives his Visitors — The Charm of his 
Manner and Speech — Untiring Devotion to his Wife — Their 
Life in Washington — How Mrs. McKinley Assists her Hus- 
band— Her Tastes and Accomplishments — Her Unostenta- 
tious Charities — Hands that are never Idle — McKinley's 
Mother — His Filial Love — Walking to Church with his 
Venerable Mother on his Arm — Watching her Son's Career 
with Pride. 



M 



AJOR McKIXLEY'S home of to-day at Canton is 
in the house to which he took his wife as a bride 
over twenty-five years ago. Here it was that they 
enjoyed their brief experience at housekeeping, here their 
children were born and died, here Mrs. McKinley's health 
failed in early wedded life. After that, years of active 
political life passed. For nearly twenty years the Major 
and his wife lived in hotels, but nowhere was the spirit of 
home life wanting. The home in which their young mar- 
ried life was spent passed out of his hands, but when, after 
the expiration of his terms of service as governor of Ohio, 
20 (321) 



322 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

he returned to Canton to enjoy a brief rest from official 
life, the opportunity offered itself to secure it again. Old 

associations clustered around it, and set, after it was refitted 
and repaired, JNIr. and Mrs. McKinley returned to it, soon 
after celebrating the silver anniversary of their marriage. 
It is a modest double frame house on North Market Street, 
about ten minutes 1 walk from the Court House, which is the 
center of the little city. A broad ami comfortable veranda, 
where McKinley likes to chat with his friends, stretches 
across the front of the dwelling, which is surrounded by 
spacious grounds, neatly kept and ornamented. Entering 
the hall, visitors upon social missions are guided into a 
reception room to the left, and to the right is McKinley's 
office for those on business bent. The latter is a large 
square room, against whose walls stand well-filled book- 
eases of polished oak. A capacious roll-top desk opposite 
the door is for McKinley's own use. A table in the middle 
of the room is covered with books, and at another little 
table at a north window McKinley sits and attends to his 
daily mail, the portraits of Lincoln and Grant looking down 
upon him. A telephone is within easy reach in the adjoin- 
ing dining-room, and, upstairs, are the busy workrooms of 
Mr. Boyle, his private secretary, and his stenographers. 
Taste, comfort, books, artistic, but modest, decorations, 
the touches of a woman's hand are everywhere. Every 
grace of home life is preserved in spite of t he enormous mails 
which demand attention, and the callers who arrive almost 
constantly, and all of whom are kindly welcomed by the 
courteous man whose open hospitality, even in the stress 
of business, puts every visitor at his ease. 

He is one of the people in sympathy and in his ways. 



LITE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 323 

There is no affectation about him. He sits and talks to 
you with a gleam of kindliness and manliness in that pene- 
trating' Scotch eve. J lis character appears as an open book. 
He affects none of the traits that sometimes mar greatness, 
and that appear to establish a dividing line between it and 
the rest of the world. He meets you man to man, looks not 
to the cut of your clothes, but to the depth and breadth of 
your thought, talks freely and without any assumption of 
overweening significance to his words, and he interests you 
irresistibly in his presence and in his speech as he has the 
thousands upon thousands who have listened to him the 
country over. This is McKinley as he appears in his 
office at his home to visitors. 

But in all his busy hours Mrs. McKinley is not forgotten. 
Their home life is a tender romance. In speaking of their 
marriage, reference has been made to the devotion to the 
wife of whom he is justly proud, and of her strong belief in 
her husband. There is a quiet unostentatious devotion of 
each to the other which is the ideal of home life. 

It was said of McKinley in Congress that he was either 
at the Capitol, in his office, or with his wife. Public life 
has never been allowed to separate them for a long time. 
She usually accompanied him upon his campaigning trips; 
if not, he made it his first duty, upon arriving at a stopping 
place to send a despatch to her. At the Ebbitt House in 
Washington, Mrs. McKinley's room, fitted up for her 
special comfort, was near his work room, and seldom, while 
working long hours upon tariff and other measures, did he 
allow a half hour to slip without visiting her room to see 
that she needed nothing. 

In many ways she has been of great assistance to her 



324 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

husband in his political life. In their hotel apartments 
at Washington she often received their friends in the quiet- 
est, but most hospitable manner. In his two terms as 
governor they gave several receptions at their hotel to the 
Legislature and the public. 

During the past few years Mrs. McKinley's health has 
greatly improved, and, in appearance to-day, she is anything 
but the conventional invalid. Her gowns and bonnets are 
always fashionably made and trimmed, and her invalidism 
is only apparent at the second glance at her face, which 
shows that acute suffering has been her portion, though her 
personality has lost none of its charm. 

Though she is not actively artistic, except in the beauty 
of the needlework which she does, she is an appreciative ad- 
mirer of fine paintings and statuary. She is an enthusias- 
tic attendant — so far as her health will permit — of good 
dramatic performances. So great is her fondness for them 
that last winter she and Major McKinley arranged to be 
in Xew York for several important " first nights." She 
is, like her husband, a great reader of the newspapers and is a 
dose student of them, and of public opinion as evidenced 
by them. 

Deterred by her unfortunate ill-health from actively 
serving in the many charitable undertakings and com- 
mittees in Washington and Canton, Mrs. McKinley has 
performed her many charities unostentatiously and away 
" from the sight of men." Unabje to see the poor who 
come to her, or to investigate personally their worth, she 
i nt rusts to some member of her family her large almsgiving. 
Her fingers are almost never idle; and whatever of her 
handiwork is not sent to adorn the homes of friend or rela- 










mrs. william mckinley's room in the canton' residence. 
william Mckinley in his study in the canton residence. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 327 

five, will find its way to charitable bazaars and fairs; or 
into the hospitals for distribution among' invalids less fortu- 
nate than herself. 

Both Mrs. McKinley and her husband are members of 
the First Methodist Church in Canton. In Washington 
they attended — when Mrs. McKinley was able to be taken 
■ — the Foundry Church. 

Major McKinley's devotion to his aged mother, who is 
now living at Canton, has also attracted comment. His 
father died in 1892. It has long been his custom while at 
Canton, to accompany his mother to church each Sunday 
morning. When he went to Columbus, as governor, he 
determined to keep up the practice as much as possible, and 
unless the press of public business was very great he always 
slipped quietly over to Canton from the State capital on 
Sunday mornings and walked to church with his mother 
on his arm. The next train would carry him to Columbus, 
where his wife awaited his coming. The venerable mother, 
like her son, scarcely knows what it is to be sick. She is 
a marvel of magnificent health and vigor at seven years over 
four-score, and she has never lost her maternal attitude 
toward her boy, though she watches his career with pride 
and has taken a keen interest in his campaigns. 

When Congressional duties did not keep him in Wash- 
ington, Mr. and Mrs. McKinley usually stopped at his 
mother's house, which is pleasantly situated on one of Can- 
ton's neat residence streets, and there McKinley has always 
kept a work-room, largely devoted to Congressional labor. 
Here can be found records and other publications collected 
by a busy Congressman. 



CHAPTEK XXX. 

THE MAN AND THE STATESMAN — McKINLEY IN PRI- 
VATE AND PUBLIC LIFE — AN UNSTAINED RECORD. 

His Personal Appearance — Should be Seen to be Fully Known — 
A Man who Works but does not Worry — His Dress — The 
Bronze Badge of the Grand Army of the Republic — A Man 
of Unusual Power — Henry Irving's Inquiry, "Who is that 
Man ? " — His Astonishing Feats of Memory — His Faculty 
of Remembering Faces — An Incident at a Hartford Dinner 
Party — "I Know you " — His Cordial Manners and Unaf- 
fected Simplicity — His Capacity for Sustained Mental Ef- 
fort — How he Prepares his Principal Speeches — His Keen 
Insight into Human Nature — A Champion of the Dignity and 
Elevation of Labor — His Profound Sympathy — An Incident 
in his Army Life — He Becomes a Freemason — Interesting 
Circumstance Attending his Initiation into the Order — His 
Public Life an Open Book — A Spotless Public Career — A 
Man of Attractive Personality and Blameless Life — Keeping 
in Close Touch with the People. 

1~R the preceding pages devoted to the leading facts in 
McKinley's busy career, the character of the man has 
appeared in his words and acts. He shines forth in 
these both as a man and a statesman, and all that may be said 
cannot, perhaps, strengthen the impression the reader has 
already acquired. Yet, he should be scon to be fully known. 
In his fifty-third year he is strong and vigorous, well pre- 
served. Of a long-lived family, his father reaching eighty- 
five, and his venerable mother still living at the age of eighty- 

(328) 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 329 

seven, his stock of vitality lias not been impaired by careless 
living or excesses. His form is erect, his eye bright, and 
scarcely a gray thread gleams in his dark hair. He works, 
but does not worry. A good deal of a philosopher, care 
sits rather lightly upon him. Trouble never keeps him 
awake. His dress is plain, and always of black material. 
Tn his button-hole is always seen the bronze badge of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, or the red, white, and blue 
rosette of the Loyal Legion. 

He, whose name becomes upon the lips of millions of 
men the symbol of a common idea, of a cherished ambition, 
of a widely honored doctrine, he who fashions or, in a sense, 
creates what the masses of the people adopt as their belief, 
must be a man of unusual power. McKinley is such a 
man. Wherein does his power exist ? 

''Who is that man ?" asked Henry Irving one day, 
looking down from the gallery of the House and indicating 
McKinley. " He should be a man of intellectual power." 

Irving correctly judged McKinley; he found the quality 
which predominated in his nature. His power is in his in- 
tellect largely. His friends do not speak of him as a brilliant 
man but as brainy. Brilliancy is often superficial. In 
listening to McKinley the impression of reserve strength is 
received. His mind away down deep is stored with fads 
and information. His memory does not desert him, but 
is constantly performing marvelous feats, easily and natu- 
rally. Indeed, in his powers of memory he resembles the 
late James G. Blaine more than any other man to-day, 
never forgetting a face that has become impressed upon 
him, seldom losing a fact that he has worked for and 
secured. 



330 l AVE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

At a dinner, given in honor of McKinley to about five 
hundred people, by the McKinley Club, Hartford, in the 
spring of 1895, the army of waiters made so much noise in 
clearing away the dishes that it became difficult to hear 
McKinley's words in the rear of the long hall. Alexander 
Harbison, an officer of the club, a man of large physique 
and tremendous lung power, rose, and, in thunderous tones, 
commanded the waiters to cease gathering dishes then and 
there, and they did. McKinley was struck with Harbi- 
son's display of generalship. Several months later Harbi- 
son was standing with a group of Connecticut men in the 
Cleveland depot, when McKinley, just arrived from Colum- 
bus, approached. A quick look of recognition appeared on 
.McKinley's face as he noticed the man he had never seen 
before visiting Hartford, then only among hundreds of other 
men, and whom he was not expecting to see at Cleveland. 

" I know you," said McKinley, taking the man's hand. 
" You're Harbison — the man who silenced the waiters." 

Many similar stories could be told showing this re- 
markable quality of McKinley's mind. People are at- 
tracted to a public man who does not forget them, who 
comes forward to grasp their hands and call them by name, 
ami his cordiality is as unfailing as his memory. No red 
tape was ever allowed to surround his official functions. No 
<uic ever had any difficulty in seeing McKinley if seeking 
him on legitimate business. This simplicity is natural, 
and it is an attribute that has endeared him to the people he 
has met, and he has spoken to more people than any other 
man in public life. No other man ever looked into the 
faces of so many of his countrymen. 

No man was ever more scrupulous in keeping his word. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 331 

The manner in which he kept faith with candidates to whom 
he pledged bis support in conventions is an example of the 
sacredness in which he holds even his smallest promises. 
He never breaks a speaking appointment. If he promises 
to go to any point the local committee can rest assured he 
will be there. In the spring of 1895 he suffered a severe 
attack of grip. He had promised John Addison Porter, 
the president of the Hartford McKinley Club, that he 
would be present at its annual dinner. The committees 
of young men of the club made extensive plans. Covers 
were to be laid for five hundred people in Foot Guard Hall, 
but when all arrangements had been made, involving- 
serious responsibilities, word came to them that McKinley 
was sick. It was a great disappointment to the young men, 
and his failure to appear meant serious financial loss. Mr. 
Porter knew McKinley well, and knew how he kept his 
word. " He will come if such a thing is possible," he 
said. Only a few days before the banquet, a despatch from 
Ohio warned them that it was no use to count on McKinley 
this time, for he was a sick man. A little later a despatch 
came from McKinley, stating when he would reach Hart- 
ford. 

" Don't worry a minute longer, my friend," was the 
first thing he said to Mr. Porter, when the latter met him at 
the train. " I'm here and will speak." He knew how the 
young men of the club had worried over the matter, and his 
first considerate thought was to put their minds at case. 
With McKinley, formalities never interfere with appropri- 
ate words or acts. He is quick to see what other men are 
thinking of, and quick to frame his words accordingly. 

But while a reserve intellectual power and singularly 



332 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

attractive and cordial manners form the combination of 
qualities which appear most prominently to the observer, 
McKinley possesses another peculiarity which can easily 
account for much of his success in life. His capacity for 
hard and sustained mental effort seems to be unlimited. 
In a previous chapter we have noticed the patience ami 
industry with which his tariff bill was framed. McKinley 
stands proved by the most severe tests as a man capable of 
long-continued labor. He believes thoroughly in work, 
that it is the only thing that can be depended upon for 
help and reward. His principal speeches are prepared 
with great care to suit his critical taste, and then that won- 
derful memory of his seizes and holds the product of his 
toil. His speeches not only read well, but sound 
well. His sentences are clear, vigorous, and clean-cut. He 
might not be called a brilliant orator, but he always moves 
his hearers, gets their attention at once, and holds it. So 
he has earned the fame of being one of the most successful 
public speakers in the land. 

Neither is he a man of one idea, as some critics have 
held. His wonderful understanding of the tariff ques- 
tion has led some to suppose that he has devoted himself 
almost entirely to that subject, to the exclusion of others. 
On the contrary, few public men have spoken on such n 
variety of topics in the course of their careers. He has 
delivered eulogies on Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, and Logan, 
which all exhibit his keen insight into human nature, and 
his appreciation of noble qualities. He has made numer- 
ous speeches on financial topics, and upon different fea- 
tures of Republican policy. Many addresses of an educa- 
tional or religious character he has delivered on special oc- 






LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 333 

casions. The interests of the laborer lie has not ignored, 
and often has he raised his voice in defense of the dignity 
and elevation of labor, lie is convinced that the working- 
man should receive good wages and should be able to ben- 
efit his neighbor, the tailor, by wearing good clothes, and 
so on all along the line. 

McKinley has not only a deep sympathy for sufferers, 
but a profound respect for those who, by word or act, seek 
to cheer or help the suffering. Shortly before he was 
mustered out of army service, he was passing through a 
hospital with one of the regimental surgeons, and he 
noticed that the surgeon and some of the Confederate 
wounded were very friendly. He asked what bond of 
sympathy existed between the surgeon and the rebel pris- 
oners, and was told that they were brother Masons. He 
was so impressed with the friendly sentiment that he de- 
sired to join the order. He received his degree at the 
hands of a Confederate Master of Hiram Lodge, Winches- 
ter, Virginia, May 1, 1865. After returning to Canton, 
lie took higher degrees. He is a Knight Templar and 
Knight of Pythias. 

As he is as a man, so is he as a statesman. The record 
of his public life is an open book. His bitterest political 
opponent never sought to cast reflections upon his integ- 
rity. His public career is spotless. No friend of his was 
ever compelled to make any apologies for anything in his 
conduct as a man, or as congressman, or as governor of 
Ohio. 

As a public man he embodies the patriotic and pro- 
gressive spirit of Americanism. He is popular with those 
who believe that there is no country better than ours. He 



334 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

is less popular in Europe. His policy has been to make 
every effort to build up the prosperity of this country, 
whether it affected foreign countries or not. The home 
market is more desirable than foreign markets. The doc- 
trine of protection is a deep conviction with him — never 
in his career has he lost faith in it. He believes it is the 
American system and the best system, developing Ameri- 
can resources, quickening American enterprise, fostering 
American greatness, upholding the American flag. Be- 
lieving in it so thoroughly, considering protection an in- 
alienable right granted by the Constitution, because in it 
lies the power to produce happiness, he entered into a study 
of the principle that he might defend it from its enemies 
here and abroad. Thus has he come to personify the 
policy. He is pre-eminently the representative of the 
cause of industrial reconstruction. Nothing has been 
aide to divert the popular attention from McKinley as the 
representative of this idea. 

No man is worthier of the presidency, and for this rea- 
son his success has been irresistible. The people know 
him as a man of attractive personality and blameless life, 
a gallant soldier in the war, a conspicuous leader in na- 
tional affairs, a strong debater, a popular orator, a trained 
law-maker, a man of intellectual strength, even temper, 
rare insight, sound judgment, and stainless honor. He is 
one who always keeps in close touch with the people, and 
they have stood by him. He stands by them. 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART, 

REPUBLICAN VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF 1896. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

GARRET A. HOBART — A NATIVE NEW JERSEY MAN - 
MAKING HIS OWN WAY — BECOMES A LEADING 
LAWYER. 

Birth at Long Branch — English and Dutch Ancestry — His 
School Days — Graduates from Rutgers College at Twenty 
Years of Age — Earning his Way — A School Teacher — (Joes 
to Paterson — A New Suit of Clothes and $1.50 his Entire 
Capital — Studies Law in the Office of Socrates Tuttle — 
Friendship of Mr. Tuttle for Hobart's Father — An Agreement 
that his Child, if a Boy. should Study Law with Mr. Tuttle - 
Made a Member of the Tuttle Family — Jennie Tuttle — 
Young Hobart is Fascinated — They are Married — Hobart's 
First Law Case— Steady Progress — Becomes a Leading 
Lawyer. 

THE State of Xew Jersey claims Garret Augustus Ho- 
bart as her own. hi it lie was horn and roared. 
In Xew Jersey public schools he received his early 
education. From a Xew Jersey college he graduated. 
Shortly afterwards he became a member of the Xew Jersey 
bar. He has been prominently identified with the politi- 
cal history of Xew Jersey for a quarter of a century, the 
leading spirit in the long combat which the Uopublicans 
have waged against corrupt rule. His business career has 
been devoted largely to the promotion of Xew Jersey 011- 

(335) 



336 1AFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

terprise for the welfare of New Jersey people. lie has 
lived within the boundaries of the famous old common- 
wealth all his years. 

Mr. Hobart comes of good stock. His ancestors on his 
father's side were English, and on his mother's side Dutch. 
His father was a farmer of very moderate means, but of 
considerable influence in Monmouth county, and it was at 
Long Branch, June 3, 1844, that Garret was born. His 
father's modest farm was not far from the historic field on 
which, in 1778, the American forces, not yet recovered from 
the terrible winter at Valley Forge, met the British forces, 
and after reverses, received a slight but important advan- 
tage. As a boy, he did Avhat an active boy could on the 
farm, and what such a boy had to do in aid of the family 
whose subsistence depended upon hard work and frugal 
living. He attended the common school, and early showed 
the habits of industry, which in later years brought him a 
rich reward. 

As he grew up, he manifested a marked disposition for 
study, and his parents determined to give him the benefit 
<»f a liberal education. This was not an easy matter, but 
the young man did much to earn his own way, and, when a 
mere lad, entered Rutgers College. Here he devoted him- 
self assiduously to his studies. Before he was twenty he 
took his degree, and started out in the world to earn his 
way. He at once received a position as teacher of a small 
school at a very modest salary. His present acquaintances 
need to give their imaginations a free rein to conceive him 
sitting on a platform behind a schoolroom desk, instilling 
into the small Jersey youths the rudiments of spelling and 
the intricacies of arithmetic; but Hobart has pleasant recol- 




GARRET A. HOBART. 



LIFE <>F GARRET A. HOBART. 339 

lections of the three months lie spent in this way. It was 
.1 humble beginning, bul it was an experience of great value 
to a man for whom the future had so much in store. 

It was a time, moreover, when he thought very seriously 
of his future. It was all his to make. No one could make 
it for him. lie had good health, a handsome face, a cheery 
and social temperament, and a large allowance of ambition. 
The narrow walls of the schoolroom could not confine him 
long. lie taught only three months, hut it enabled him 
fo get together a little money of his own, so that he felt 
ready to begin the study of law. In that direction his 
Tastes and ambition lay. 

One of the old-time friends of Ilobart's father was a 
Mr. Tuttle, whose son had gone to Paterson, and entered 
upon a legal career. It appears that so intimate were Mr. 
Tuttle and Ilobart's father, so fast their friendship, that 
before Garret was born it w r as arranged that if the expected 
child was a boy, he should study law with Mr. Tuttle's 
son, Socrates, who, at the time of the arrangement, had 
just left the blacksmith forge to devote himself to Black- 
stone. A boy it proved to be, and when Garret was gradu- 
ated from college and was ready to satisfy his cherished 
ambition to enter the legal profession, Socrates Tuttle had 
become a leading lawyer in that seerion of N"ew Jersey, and 
was one of its most prominent citizens. 

The agreement between the old folks was carried out, 
and Garret, using his earnings as school teacher to pur- 
chase a new suit of clothes, started for Paterson with just 
$1.50, his entire capital, in his pocket. lie not only lie- 
came a law student in Air. Tuttle's office, but became a 
member of the family, for he did not have money enough 



840 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

to pay his board, and had to work for it, which he did with 
a will and success, readily convincing Mr. Tuttle that 
young Hobart was made of superior stuff. Mr. Tuttle by 
that time was one of the foremost lawyers in the State — ■ 
a man possessed of keen wit, which was always used to good 
advantages in his practice before the courts. 

Socrates Tuttle was a man who could appreciate young 
Jlobart's position, practically penniless and struggling for 
a place in the world. Turtle's early life had been spent 
about the fire of his father's forge. He worked at the 
anvil and the forge until he became an expert blacksmith, 
but he never had a liking for the business. With a few dol- 
lars in his pocket he started out to make his fortune in a 
different way, and the year that Hobart was born, Tuttle 
became a law student in the office of James Specr of Pater- 
son. He obtained his license as counselor-at-law in 1851. 

When Hobart entered Turtle's office, the latter was 
counsel for the Board of Freeholders, and at once he became 
familiar with tin 1 politics of the county. In 1871 and 1872 
Tuttle was mayor of the city of Paterson, and so his son 
in-law (Hobart married Turtle's only daughter in L869)r 
had further opportunities to study politics, and familiarize 
himself with the requirements of official positions. 

Hobart zealously devoted himself to the law, and in 
18G6 was admitted to the bar. His first efforts as a law- 
yer attracted no little attention, for those who heard him 
recognized in him a public speaker of forceful logic andy 
elofjiienee. Tn three years he became a counselor. 

It was about thirty years ago that Mr. Hobart had his 
first law case, just after having been admitted to the bar. 
It was some trivial suit before a justice 1 of the peace. The 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 341 

young attorney won the case, and was as happy as a peacock. 
No one then imagined the rapid strides the youthful look- 
ing lawyer was destined to make. But it was not the ordi- 
nary course of a lawyer. He always, strange as it may 
seem, discouraged litigation to the extent that it would be 
carried into court. His method of dealing with a ease 
would he something like this: 

His client, having laid down the usual retaining fee, 
Mr. Hobart would ask: 

u "Well, what is your side of the case ? " And the 
client would tell. 

" Now," he would ask, " what does the other fellow 
claim ? " 

This would also be related. Then Mr. Hobart would 
argue this way: " You claim this, and your adversary says 
such and such is the case. Now what does the difference 
amount to ? " 

In a singularly practical way, the young attorney would 
bring the thing right down to the merits, and then, as if by 
intuition, make some sort of a suggestion that would, if ac- 
cepted, make his client satisfied and his opponent willing. 
Mr. Hobart would probably go to see the man on the other 
side and talk to him. That settled it. No one could re- 
sist the magnetic influence of the young lawyer. All the 
fight would be talked out of both sides, and the chances 
were that in nine cases out of ten in less than twenty-four 
hours the two " deadly enemies " would be shaking hands 
together, and be for the rest of their lives the warmesl 
friends. 

In this way Hobart began his legal career, and he has 
been going through life, smoothing things, making friends 



34^ LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

not only for himself, but making friends between other 
people. His genial personal attention and influence have 
probably amicably settled more controversies than any 
other hundred men have done in the State of Xew Jersey. 
His entire course in life has been to make things harmo- 
nious rather than to stir up strife. It is for this reason that, 
while Air. Hobart has had an immense legal business ever 
since he first hung out his shingle, he has actually appeared 
in court a smaller number of times than, perhaps, any 
other lawyer in Passaic county. The short and satisfac- 
tory manner of his adjusting disputes gave him more time 
to attend to a larger number of cases than those who were 
waiting around the court rooms, and consequently he made 
more money, and made it more rapidly than the ordinary 
lawyer. 

Hobart was not only speedily successful in the 
practice of law, but in a very fortunate love affair. Mr. 
Tuttle, into whose family Hobart entered, had been mar- 
ried three times. His first wife was a Miss Winters, the 
daughter of a family, every female member of which was 
noted for remarkable beauty. Mr. Tuttle's second wife 
was a Miss Dickie, by whom he had no children, and the 
third wife was the widow of Dr. Weller, who, as surgeon 
of the Ninth Xew Jersey Volunteers, with Colonel Allen, 
losl his life off Cape Hatteras during the early part of the 
war. A. Hobart Tuttle, the only surviving child of the 
third marriage, is now the private secretary of Governor 
( rriggs of Xew Jersey. 

The only young lady of the house, which became 
TTobart's home when he went to Paterson, was Miss Jennie, 
the only daughter of Mr. Tuttle. child of his first marriage, 






LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 343 

and naturally the young couple were thrown much to- 
gether. Jennie Tuttle was an accomplished and lovable 
girl, with a singularly amiable disposition. Hobart 

was possessed of such a genial temperament and pleasing 
manners that it would have been strange if they had not 
fallen in love with each other. It was the proper thing 
for them to do, and they did it. They were married in 
186U, the year he became a counselor. She was but a 
young- girl, but she inherited her mother's beauty, and 
much of the keen intellectuality and sparkling wit for which 
her father had become widely famed. Hobart had be- 
come known as the handsome young lawyer of Paterson. 
He speedily won his way to a lucrative practice, and early 
displayed those qualities which have made him the first cit- 
izen of New Jersey. 

When he went to Paterson, a boy twenty years old, 
there were less than 25,000 people in that city. There 
were no hospitals, hardly any streets, no macadamized roads, 
no railroads, and comparatively few churches. In thirty 
years the population of the city has grown to 100,000; it 
has five daily newspapers; fifty miles of paved streets; one 
hundred miles of macadamized roads; churches without 
number, hospitals, fifty miles of trolley roads, taking the 
people to and from their homes. In all this development, 
no man has taken so prominent or active a part as Hobart. 
He has been the leading spirit in all improvements. If 
anything was to he done, Hobart was consulted. In the 
development which has enriched Paterson and its people, 
Hobart was also enriched. He has made his fortune by 
helping his fellow citizens. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

HOBART'S POLITICAL CAREER — FOREMOST LEADER 
OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN NEW JERSEY. 

Hobart's Legal Ability and Political Acumen Demonstrated — 
Sent to the Legislature in 1872 — Becomes Prominent — Re- 
elected in 1874 — Becomes Speaker — Important State Ques- 
tions — New Jersey and the Railroads — State Senator in 
187(5 — "The Brilliant Young Senator from Passaic" — Made 
Chairman of the Republican State Committee — Attention 
Attracted to Hobart's Political Skill — Incidents of a Warm 
Fight — Delegate to National Convention of 1S84 — Placed on 
the National Committee — Made one of its Executive Mem- 
bers—A Trusted and Honorable Political Worker — His 
Nomination for Vice-Presidency. 

HOBART came of Democratic stock, but lie was a 
Republican from the moment he turned towards 
politics. He turned to politics naturally. Hejias a 
natural genius for it, as well as for business. In the search 
Cor an available man for city counsel of Paterson, the Re- 
publicans were not long in selecting Hobart, though he 
was but twenty-seven years old, and only three years a mem- 
ber of the bar. lie possessed all the qualities of a success- 
ful candidate, and a popular public official. 

He was naturally endowed with ability, energy, gener- 
osity, and bon homme such as are rarely combined in 

one individual. He was at once recognized as pos- 

(344) 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. :',[.', 

sessing a rave knowledge of men and executive ability be- 
yond his years. Even serving in such unimportant posi- 
tions as the clerk of grand juries, these qualities appeared, 

and attracted attention. He was made city counsel, and 
his short term in this office quickly made him soughl 
for higher lienors. In 1S72 lie was chosen counsel to the 
Hoard of Chosen Freeholders of Passaic county. This 
was no small honor for a young man of twenty-eight, so re- 
cently admitted to the bar. 

But so popular had lie become that in the fall of the year 
1872 his party made him a candidate for the General As- 
sembly from the Third district. At once his qualities as 
a political leader came to the front. Wherever he went in 
the campaign he made friends, and was elected by the 
largest majority that had ever been given in that district. 
lie took high rank in the Legislature immediately. He 
entered at once into the struggle, which proved to be a long 
one, of redeeming the State of New Jersey from Democratic 
misrule. 

In those days the Legislature of the State devoted most of 
its energies to railroad fights. Hobart entered at the begin- 
ning of a remarkable era in the State's history — an era in 
which the schools were made free, a riparian policy defined 
and enforced, the yoke of the old monopolies that made the 
commonwealth a by-word in the mouth of the people, thrown 
off, the corporations that defied her sovereignty brought 
within reach of the tax-gatherer, her system of legislation 
fundamentally reconstructed, great public buildings reared, 
and great things begun and accomplished in all directions. 

Democratic councils had been dominated for years by a 
coterie of men usually called " The State House Ring." But 



346 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

the affairs of the State were really controlled by the Camden 
and Amboy Company, which, in the early days of railroad 
construction had been fostered by the State for the purpose 
of securing railroad communication, but which gradually 
grew to be an arrogant monopoly. It soon came to be recog- 
nized as the power behind the throne in the control of all 
the affairs of the Commonwealth. It went into the counties, 
picked out its own nominees for places in the Senate and As- 
sembly, and secured their election to the seats for which 
they stood. The ambitious politician, hopeful for public 
honors, had first to make his peace with this rapidly-growing 
monopoly and to secure its favor and consent to his canvass. 
Such a thing as a candidate announcing his opposition to 
the railroad company and surviving the election was almost 
unheard of in State politics. Once in a while a man, per- 
mit ted to reach a seat on the assumption that he would be 
favorable to its schemes, would show a disposition to curb 
its greedy reach for power. With its rich treasury it 
brought him into line with the majority of his fellows, and 
never failed to punish him for his temerity by defeating his 
re-election to his seat at the next poll. The legislation pro- 
posed for the people was all scrutinized at the companies' of- 
fices in Trenton, and allowed to go through if the company 
was favorable or indifferent, but its disapproval doomed it 
to certain defeat. It selected the Governors of the State, 
picked out the men who were to go to Congress, and named 
the United States Senators. So absolute was its control of 
all departments of the State government that the State itself 
came to be known derisively among the people of other States 
us the State of Camden and Amboy. Tt went into cities 
and towns, and controlled councils and mayors with the 



LIFE OF GARRET A. BOBART. 847 

same iron hand. Ii absorbed property of great value every- 
where, and taking il out of the ratables increased the tax bur- 
dens of the community from which it was withdrawn. There 

never was a more complete master anywhere of the destinies 
of a State than was this monster monopoly of the affairs of 
New Jersey. Its enterprise reached out in a thousand dif- 
ferent directions, and there came a time when the State that 
had taken the corporation to its bosom as a child, began to 
fear it as a master. By the time ITobart entered the 
Legislature, the company bad leased its lines to the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad Company, and rival lines were encour- 
aged to fight with more vigor for their charters. 

Owing to a popular uprising against Democratic rulers, 
the Legislature which Hobart entered was Republican in 
both branches. The business of the session bad scarcely 
begun before the railroad giants began to go at <-;edi other. 
The young Assemblyman from Paterson took a prominent 
part in the effort to secure the passage of the New T York and 
Philadelphia Railroad bill, which was strongly opposed by 
the old monopoly. It failed, but the sentiment against the 
continued domination of the monopoly grow apace, and by 
the time the Legislature of 1873 assembled, it had acquired 
enormous force. Both houses were again Republican. The 
Senate was controlled by the monopoly, while in the House 
the opposition dominated. In the contest, the free railroad 
idea triumphed. The old Camden and Amhoy idea was 
from that time eliminated from politics. 

Meanwhile, an agitation for a change of the Constitution 
of the State had sprung up; a commission was appointed, and 
its recommendations were submitted to the Legislature 
which met in 1S74. The Republicans were again in control 



348 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOB ART. 

and in the House they advanced Hobart to the speakership. 
He took the place absolutely im trammeled by promises or 
pledges, something unusual in the New Jersey Legislature 
of those days, and was consequently enabled to select his 
committees and direct the work of the House with no other 
end in view than the welfare of the State. 

Right back of the presiding officer's desk, in the State 
Assembly Chamber, Trenton, is the Speaker's room. 
Among the pictures on the walls of that apartment to be 
seen to-day, is a boyish-looking photograph of Garret A. Ho- 
bart. At the time it was taken, Mr. Hobart was thirty years 
old — 'tis twenty-two years ago — and he was there as the 
third' highest official in New Jersey. 

Those who served with Air. Hobart have nothing but 
pleasant things to say about him, and this is as true of Dem- 
ocrats as Republicans. His absolutely spotless integrity, 
his unswerving firmness and uniform courtesy won him the 
admiration of all. 

" I shall always have a kindly remembrance of Garret 
A. Hobart," says ex-Judge Henry of Newark. Mr. Henry 
was a leader of the Democratic minority in the Assembly 
when Mr. Hobart was Speaker. " As an illustration of* 
his generosity to political rivals, let me quote one incident. T 
was seeking re-election in the Belleville district. The town 
of Franklin had been created, and the blame for some un- 
satisfactory features of the change were laid at my door. 
This hurl me considerably with the voters, and it was hard 
work to counteracl the effects produced. In this emer- 
gency, Speaker Hobart wrote me an open letter conclusively 
disproving all the allegations made, and T was triumphantly 
re-elected. Tt must not be understood that Mr. Hobart in 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 349 

any way advised my re-election as a Democrat. \\'h;it be 
did was to give; as Speaker, a formal statement of my course 
in the Legislature. 

" As presiding officer, Mr. Ilobart was always impartial, 
and fulfilled his duties in a dignified and consistent man- 
ner, such as won him the respect of every member of the 
House. 

The amendments to the Constitution submitted by the 
commission formed the chief topic of discussion in the two 
houses, and those forbidding special legislation for cities 
and counties, requiring the regulation of their internal af- 
fairs by general laws, directing that property should be as- 
sessed for taxes under general laws, and by uniform rules 
according to its true value, and declaring that no donation of 
land or appropriation of money should be made by the State 
or any municipal corporation to or for the use of any society, 
association, or corporation whatever — representing the es- 
sential work of the commission — were accepted by the two 
houses, and referred to the Legislature of 1875. 

The favorable impression which he had made on the 
members of the House was not lost on the people of Pas- 
saic county, and in 1875 he was urged to accept a renomina- 
tion. This, however, he declined, on account of business 
reasons, but in 1877 he again entered the lists, this time as 
a candidate for the State Senate, to which he was elected by 
a majority of 1,809 — the largest ever given by the county, 
and exceeding by over 100 per cent, that cast for General 
Hayes as President. The legislative struggle was impor- 
tant because it involved the election of a United State- Sen- 
ator to succeed Frederick T. Frelinghuysen. 

The chances were with the Democrats in the legislative 



350 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOB-ART. 

contests, because the State seldom failed to assert her Democ- 
racy in presidential campaigns. She had given her vote to 
Pierce in 1852, to Buchanan in 1856, to McClellan in 1864-, 
to Seymour in 18G8. Only the multiplicity of Democrat ic 
candidates had enabled four Lincoln electors to carry the poll 
in 1860. Her failure to support Greeley in 1872 was due 
to the fact that he had once been a Republican, and was 
but the expression, after all, of the intensity of her Demo- 
cratic sentiment; and when her voters went to the polls in 
the fall of 1876 to bestow her seven votes in the Electoral 
College, they tarried long enough to cast their votes for 
Democratic candidates for State Senator and Assembly. 

But the local victory was less marked than had been the 
expression of preference as between the national candidates. 
Tilden's majority over Hayes was between 12,000 and 13,- 
000. The Democrats captured the Senate by a single ma- 
jority. The Assembly was a tie. McPherson was elected 
to the United States Senate. The following year General 
McClellan was elected governor by the Democrats, the 
Legislature still being Democratic in both branches, but in 
18T9, owing to revelations of Democratic misrule, the Re- 
publicans secured a working majority in both houses, ITo- 
bart being re-elected to the Senate from Passaic county. 
The Republican majority started hot-footed after the Dem- 
ocratic State officials. The fee system prevailed, and the 
incomes of holders of some of the State offices was said to 
be enormous. The fruition of the deliberations of the Leg- 
islature was the presentation by Garret A. Hobart, " the bril- 
liant Senator from Passaic,' 1 of an act authorizing the suin- 
marv investigation of the boohs of city and county officials. 
It commanded the presiding justice in any circuit to make 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. :;f,l 

the examination, with the aid of experts, if he needed them, 
upon the application of twenty-five freeholders. The Leg- 
islature gave its concurrence to the ad almost without de- 
bate, and Governor McClellan's signature made it law. 
It was a telling blow at corruption. Hobart by this time 
was looked upon as one of the leaders of his party. His exec- 
utive ability easily won for him the recognition of active 
Republicans, and in 1880 he was made chairman of the Re- 
publican State Committee; at the same time he was renom- 
inated for the Senate. 

The committee never made such a battle for the victory 
as it made that year. Senator Hobart was the leader in 
every sense of the word, and as the battle progressed, he dis- 
played those qualities of political generalship which later 
led to his selection as the vice-chairman of the National 
Republican committee, and the practical director of one of 
the most exciting of subsequent national campaigns. He 
had every district in the State canvassed, and the preference 
of every voter as to State candidates carefully ascertained. 
The results of these canvasses were listed fully, and on the 
eve of the decisive engagement, Hobart, and his colleagues 
knew just how many in each district and in each county 
could be depended upon to vote for Republican candidates, 
how many for the Democratic candidates, and how many 
were doubtful. Everything looked bright, but the railroad 
influence was thrown strongly for the Democratic candi- 
date. The monopoly made the greatest efforts to defeat the 
Republican candidate, and succeeded in doing so by the small 
majority throughout the State of 651. Tt was the closest 
shave the Democrats of New Jersey had ever had. The 
State House Ring saw that Hobart was a man to fear. 



352 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

But suspicions were very generally entertained among 
the Republican workers that the tide of battle had been 
turned by fraud. Singularly enough, a contest sprang up 
between two Democratic candidates in the " Horseshoe dis- 
trict," so strongly Democratic that no Republican ever 
thought it worth while to fight for it. One of these Dem- 
ocrats asked for a recount, but when it was found that a 
recount might affect the gubernatorial vote, and show frauds 
which would unseat the new Democratic governor, the eon- 
testing Democrat was prevailed upon to keep still. Hohart 
wished the Republican candidate to make a contest, believ- 
ing that he had been fraudulently defeated, but the candi- 
date, 1 icing a sensitive and modest man, shrank from the 
ordeal. 

But the Legislature was Republican in both branches, 
and Ilobart, having won his spurs in the campaign, was 
chosen to preside over the Senate. The elections in the " off 
year," of 1882 were important, as Senator McPherson's 
term expired the next year, and a successor was to be elected. 
The Democrats, after a fight, chose McPherson for re-clee- 
tion. The foremost figure on the Republican side, when 
the legislative representatives of that party went into can- 
ens to name their candidate against McPherson was Ilobart, 
and their agreement to support him for the United States 
Senatorship was the natural outcome of the situation. 

In the Legislature Mr. Ilobart had displayed exceptional 
ability, and had been instrumental in placing upon the 
statute-book some of the most useful of laws. Conspicu- 
ous among these was the act, already referred to, provid- 
ing for a summary judicial investigation of the affairs of 
counties upon the application of twenty-live freeholders, and 



LIFE OF GARRET A. BOBART. 353 

another law, charging the sinking fund of the State with 
the payment of all the interesl and part of the principal 
of the State debt yearly, whereby the ordinary expendi- 
tures of the State were reduced about $100,000 per annum, 
which was largely the cause of the removal of the State tax, 
the absence of which is one of New Jersey's proudest boasts. 
Mr. Ilobart received more votes than all the others together; 
the measure of this compliment will be better understood in 
the light < »f the fact that among those voted for by the Repub- 
licans were George A. Halsey, the late Frederick A. Potts, 
and others of equal prominence. 

There were certain Democratic bolters against the nom- 
ination of McPherson, but a man of such wide and varied ex- 
perience as Ilobart was not the one to compromise himself 
with Democratic malcontents, whose motives in holding out 
against their caucus nominee were popularly believed to be 
far from the highest, and his refusal to profit by their de- 
fection destroyed the balance of power which they hoped to 
hold between the two parties. First the two houses voted 
separately for the candidates. The Senate gave its vote 
for Ilobart; the House for McPherson. According to the 
Constitution, it was necessary then for the two houses to act 
jointly. There was great interest in the result, and the 
vote was taken amid breathless silence. The count of the 
tally showed forty-three of the ballots for McPherson, thir- 
ty-six for Ilobart, and two for Ludlow. 

The party became more and more exacting in its demands 
upon Ilobart. He was recognized as a safe and guiding 
hand. He knew men. He knew the needs of the people 
he represented. From 1880 to 1891 he was chairman of 
the Republican State committee, and as such planned sev- 



35-J- LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

era! of the most brilliant campaigns in the history of the 
Republican party in New Jersey. 

It was a continual battle against the Democratic forces, 
which had been in power so long that they laughed with 
disdain at all efforts to dislodge them. Year after year, 
however, Ilobart and his associates worked with a will, 
until they had the satisfaction of seeing the enemy routed in 
the Legislature, and its power in the State badly crippled. 
In the subsequent campaigns, although he was not actually 
the head of the party, Ilobart was of great assistance 
to the chairman of the State committee, and his counsel was 
eagerly sought in all matters pertaining to the party's wel- 
fare. Under the savage onslaught made by Hobart and the 
other leaders of the party, the grasp which the Democracy 
had maintained on affairs in Xew Jersey was broken inch 
by inch, until it culminated in the recent victory of Gover- 
nor Griggs. 

Hobart played a most conspicuous part in the campaign 
which resulted in the nomination, and eventually the elec- 
tion, of Griggs as governor. Early in the fall it was as- 
serted that Mr. Ilobart would be a candidate for governor, 
and to all who questioned him, the Passaic statesman, in his 
genial way. replied that any New Jerseyman would be flat- 
tered to have his name mentioned in connection with that 
high office. But it was soon apparent that Hobart was 
<>nly joking with reference to the mention of his own name, 
for in a shorl time the candidacy of Griggs was announced, 
supported by the enthusiastic backing of his old friend, Mr. 

Hobart. 

To Hobart, more than to any other man, Griggs owed 
his nomination, for Hobart entered at once upon a vigorous, 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 355 

aggressive, determined canvass in behalf of ( rriggs, resulting 
in the nomination of Griggs in a convention in which EEobarl 
sat as chairman of the Passaic comity delegation. 

But Hobart's activity for Griggs and the Republican 
] tarty did not cease with the nomination. As chairman of 
the executive committee of the Republican State commit- 
tee, he worked night and day, and without ceasing, for the 
Republican nominee, and the magnificent Republican tri- 
umph of November, 1895, was due, in no small measure, to 
the efficient, loyal, and energetic services of Hobart. 

In 1884 he was appointed a member of the Republican 
National committee. As such, he earned the commenda- 
tions of his co-workers, who in 1892, by unanimous vote, 
raised him to the place of Viee-Chairman. Quick to recog- 
nize his worth, the leaders of the party have been ever ready 
to accord to him an adequate reward. There has not been 
an election within the last decade in the Fifth New Jersey 
Congressional district in which Mr. Hobart might not have 
been the successful candidate. 

There was a peculiar fitness in the nomination of Gar- 
ret A. Hobart for Vice-President, that suggested itself as 
soon as his name was mentioned in connection with the can- 
didacy, and made his friends in New Jersey sanguine that 
he would be the choice of the convention. "When Hobart ar- 
rived in St.' Louis to attend the session of the national com- 
mittee, it was observed that the favor with which his can- 
didacy was regarded in his own State had already extended 
to other States. That favor grew and expanded after the 
New Jersey delegation arrived, and when the national con- 
vention met, Hobart's nomination had become almost as 
certain in the order of events as that of McKinley. 



356 LlVE OF < J ARRET A. HOBART. 

Hobart's friends largely based their claims on the recog- 
nition due to New Jersey as a redeemed State, but really it 
was a recognition of the fitness of Ilobart himself. He 
had been the leading spirit in the long struggle for Repub- 
lican supremacy in New Jersey. But more than this, all 
the leading Republicans in the country knew him as a man 
who deserved the honor. For years his advice had been 
sought in the Republican councils. His advice was always 
followed if possible. 

There was one exception, when his advice came too 
late. The campaign of 1884 was at its height. Senator 
Arthur P. Gorman of Maryland, who was managing the 
Democratic campaign, was keeping the Republicans busy. 
His headquarters were on West Twenty-fourth street, New 
York. 

A few blocks above, at No. 249 Fifth Avenue, were 
located the Republican headquarters. B. F. Jones of 
Pittsburg was in charge. The labor people, who had had 
trouble with Jones, were causing much annoyance to the 
Republican campaign committee. Among Jones's valued 
assistants was Hobart, who was having his first experience 
as a national politician, and was one of the new members 
of 1 1 10 committee. 

Jones, Hobart, Fessenden of Connecticut, Chaffee of 
Colorado, and Clarkson of Towa were the Republican wheel 
In uses of flint battle. They held daily conferences to dis- 
cuss plans to check the enemy. 

It was a hot day. Hobart was in his shirt sleeves at 
his desk. He picked up an afternoon paper, then sud- 
denly wheeled around and exclaimed: 

" Fessenden, what's this ? " 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 357 

" What's what I " queried Fessenden. 

" What's what ! Why, hero is a story in this paper 
that Blaine had accepted an invitation to a banquet that is 
to be given him by Cyrus W. Field and other rich men." 

" Another Democratic campaign lie," said Fessenden. 

" Suppose we nail it on the spot," suggested Ilohart. 

Fessenden indorsed the suggestion. Mr. Blaine was on 
his celebrated stumping tour and was billed to deliver a 
speech that day at Wheeling. A despatch was sent to 
him, and within an hour, a reply came from Walker Blaine. 
It confirmed the newspaper story. His father had accepted 
an invitation to dine with these men whose great fault was 
their money. The members of the National Campaign 
Committee held a consultation, and were unanimous in 
their opinion that Mr. Blaine had committed a great politi- 
cal blunder. The committee individually wrote to Blaine. 
Hobart informed him that the banquet would arouse sen- 
timent against him among the masses, who were opposed 
to the political influence of capitalists and the money power. 

The banquet came off in great style. More than $200,- 
000,000 was represented at the table, the Democratic pa- 
pers said. The banquet became famous as the " Belshaz- 
zar Feast," and there are still many who believe it was one 
of the causes of Blaine's defeat. 

Air. Hobart did not attend. He sold his ticket for 
$1,000, and turned the money into the Republican cam- 
paign fund. Hobart did the best he could under the cir- 
cumstances, but it would never have been done if he had 
known it sooner. Hobart is rich himself now, and his 
money has been honestly earned, but he is now, as always, 
devoted to the plain people. If he were President of the 
22 



358 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

United States and saw a Patersonian coming into the White 
House, the chances are a hundred to one that he would 
greel the caller with a " Hello, Bob ! " or " Hello, Jack ! " 
Horses and carriages he has galore, but he generally walks, 
not even half the time patronizing the trolley lines, of which 
he is the president, and on the cars of which, it is natural 
to assume, he would not have to pay fare. He is amazingly 
democratic in his conduct. He will sit with the crowd in a 
circus, join with the boys at a ball match, stop and talk with 
a newsboy, and every man, woman, and child in Paterson 
knows him and loves him. 

"When the time came for the nomination of a candi- 
date for the vice-presidency at St. Louis, Judge J. Frank 
Fort presented his name in an eloquent plea for his State, 
and his candidate. He said: 

" I rise to present to this convention the claims of New 
Jersey to the Vice-Presidency. 

" "We come because we feel that we can for the first 
time in our history bring to you a promise that our elec- 
toral vote will be cast for your nominees. If you com- 
ply with our request, this promise will surely be redeemed. 

il For forty years through the blackness and darkness 
of a universally triumphant Democracy, the Republicans of 
New Jersey have maintained their organization, and fought 
as valiantly as if the outcome were to be assured victory. 
Only twice throughout this long period has the sun shone 
in upon us. Yet, through all these weary years, we have, 
like "Goldsmith's Captive," felt that— 

Hope, like tlio gleaming taper's light, 

Adorns and cheers our way ; 
And still, as darker grows the night, 

Emits a brighter ray. 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. :;;,'.) 

"The fulfillment of this hope came in 1894. In that 
year, for the first time since the Republican party came 
into existence, we sent to Congress a solid delegation of 

eight Republicans, and elected a Republican to the United 
States Senate. We followed this in 1895 by electing a Re- 
publican Governor by a majority of 28,000, and in this 
year of grace, we expect to give the Republican electors 
a majority of not less than 20,000. 

" I come to you, then, to-day, in behalf of New Jersey, 
a politically redeemed and regenerated State. Old things 
have passed away, and behold, all things have become new. 
It is many long years since New Jersey has received recog- 
nition by a national convention. 

" "When Henry Clay stood for protection in 1844, New 
Jersey furnished Theodore Frelinghuyson as his associate. 
The issue then was the restoration of the tariff, and was 
more nearly like that of to-day than at any other period, 
which I can recall in the nation's political history. In 
1856, when the freedom of man brought the Republican 
party into existence, and the great ' Pathfinder ' was called 
to lead, New Jersey furnished for that unequal contest 
William L. Davis as the Vice-Presidential candidate. Since 
then, counting for nothing, we have asked for nothing. 
During this period, Maine has had a candidate for Presi- 
dent, and a Vice-President; Massachusetts a Vice-Presi- 
dent; New York four Vice-Presidents, one of whom be- 
came President for almost a full term; Indiana a President, 
a candidate for President, and a Vice-President; Illinois 
a President twice, and a Vice-Presidential candidate: Ohio 
two Presidents and now a candidate for the third time; Ten- 
nessee a Vice-President, who became President. 



360 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

" Wo believe that the Vice-Presidency of 1896 should 
be given to JSTew Jersey; we have reasons for our opinion. 
We have ten electoral votes. We have carried the State 
in the elections of 1893, '94, and '95. We hope and be- 
lieve we can keep the State in the Republican column for 
all time. By your action to-day you can greatly aid us. 
Do you believe you could place the Vice-Presidency in a 
Suite more justly entitled to recognition, or one which 
it would be of more public advantage to hold in the Re- 
publican ranks ? 

" If the party in any State is deserving of approval for 
the sacrifice of its members to maintain its organization, 
then the Republicans of ISTew Jersey, in this, the hour of 
ascendency, after long years of bitter defeat, feel that they 
cannot come to this convention in vain. 

" We appeal to our brethren in the South, who know, 
with us, what it is to be overridden by fraud on the ballot- 
box; to be counted out by corrupt election officers; to lie 
dominated by an arrogant, unrelenting Democracy. 

"We should have carried our State at every election 
for the past ton years, if the count had been an honest one. 
Wo succeeded in throttling the ballot-box stuffers and im- 
prisoning the corrupt election officers, only to have the 
whole raft of them pardoned in a day, to work again their 
nefarious practices upon an honest people, but to-day, under 
ballot reform laws, with an honest count, we know we can 
win. Tt has been a long, terrible strife to the goal, but 
wo have reached it unaided and unassisted from without, 
and we come to-day, promising to the ticket here selected, 
the vote of Now Jersey, whether you give us the Vice- 
Presidential candidate or not. We make it no test of our 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 361 

Republicanism that we have a candidate. We have been 
too long used to fighting for principle for that; but we do 
say that you can, by granting our request, lighten our bur- 
den, and make us a confident party, with victory in sight, 
even before the contest begins. 

" Will we carry Colorado, Montana, and Nevada this 
year if the Democracy declare for silver at 16 to 1 ? Let 
us hope we may. New Jersey has as many electoral votes 
as those three States together. 

" Will you not make New Jersey sure to take their place 
in case of need ? We have, in all these long years of Re- 
' publicanism been the " Lone Star " Democratic State of 
the North. Our forty years of wandering in the wilderness 
of Democracy are ended. Our Egyptian darkness disap- 
pears. We are on the hill-top, looking into the promised 
land. Encourage us as we march over into the political 
( lanaan of Republicanism, there to remain, by giving us a 
leader on the Republican National ticket to go with us. 

" We are proud of our public men. Their Republi- 
canism and love of country have been welded in the fur- 
mice of political adversity. That man is a Republican who 
adheres to the party in a State where there is no hope for 
the gratification of personal ambitions. There are no camp 
followers in the minority party of any State. They are all 
true soldiers in the militant army, doing valiant service 
without reward, gain, or the hope thereof, from principle 
only. 

" A true representative of this class of Republicans 
New Jersey will offer you to-day. He is in the prime 
of life, a never faltering friend, with qualities of leader-hip 
unsurpassed, of sterling honor, of broad mind, of liberal 



362 LIFE OP GARRET A. HOBART. 

views, of wide public information, of great business capac- 
ity, and withal, a parliamentarian who would grace the 
Presidency of the Senate of the United States. A native 
of our State, the son of a humble farmer, he was reared 
to love of country in sight of the historic field of Monmouth, 
on which the blood of our ancestors was shed that the repub- 
lic might exist. From a poor boy, unaided and alone, he 
has risen to his renown among us. 

" In our State we have done for him all that the politi- 
cal condition would permit. lie has been Speaker of our 
Assembly and President of our Senate; he has been the 
choice for United States Senator of the Republican minority ' 
in the Legislature, and had it been in our power to have 
placed him in the Senate of the United States, he would 
long ere this have been there. 

" His capabilities are such as would grace our position 
of honor in the nation. Not for himself, but for our State; 
not for his ambition, but to give to the nation the highest 
type of public official, do we come to this convention, by the 
command of our State, and in the name of the Republican 
party of New Jersey — unconquered and unconquerable, 
undivided and indivisible, with our united voice, speak for 
all that counts for good citizenship in our State, and nomi- 
nate to vou for the office of Vice-President of the republic 
( barrel A. Hobart of New Jersey." 



CHAPTEE XXXIII. 

HOBART AS A BUSINESS MAN AND PUBLIC CITIZEN — 
MRS. HOBART AND THE HOME LIFE AT CARROLL 
HALL. 

An Able Man of Affairs — A Bankrupt Railroad Placed on a 
Successful Basis — His Co-operation and Services Sought by 
Numerous Enterprises — Uniformly Successful in his Manage- 
ment — A Generous Man and a Peacemaker — Other Charac- 
teristics — His Home Life — Mrs. Hobart — Handsome, Ac- 
complished, and Inheriting her Father's Keen Intellectuality 
— Death of their Daughter Fannie in Italy — Garret A. 
Hobart, Jr. — Carroll Hall — A Model of Refined Elegance — 
The Hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Hobart — Their Charities. 

ALTHOUGH Hobart entered active life as a lawyer, 
and, while much of his time was occupied with 
politics, his abilities as a business man demanded 
a wider field than either the law or politics afforded. His 
genius for business developed early, and he was still a young 
man when his aid and influence were sought, both in the 
management of important enterprises and in the straighten- 
ing out of difficult undertakings that had come to grief 
for lack of just the executive ability that Hobart possessed. 
A man who can successfully manage his own business 
is regarded as a safe man to place in charge of the business 
of others, especially when the others have not been so suc- 
cessful in their management. So, in 1874 the stockholders 

(363) 



304 LIFE 0F GARRET A. HOBART. 

of the New Jersey Midland railroad, now the New York, 
Susquehanna & Western, seeing- the concern going to 
general ruin through extravagance and mismanagement, 
unanimously selected Hobart as the one they wanted as the 
receiver of the road, and he was appointed to that position 
by the court of chancery. lie managed the road so well 
that in a very short time it was placed on a good footing, 
and the stockholders were astonished at the receipt of a 
substantial dividend. In recognition of this service Hobart 
was, on the reorganization of the company, elected the 
president, and its improvement continued. When it had 
been placed in first-class condition, he resigned the presi- 
dency of the road in consequence of the pressure of his 
other business, which had become to be something immense. 
About the same time he was appointed receiver of the 
Montclair railroad and of the Jersey (Sty & Albany road, 
both of which he lifted out of the mire and put in good 
condition before turning them again over to the stockhold- 
ers. 

The reputation of Mr. Hobart thus achieved by his 
ability to put defunct and bankrupt corporations on their 
feet naturally suggested him as the right man for receiver of 
the First .National Bank of Newark, when that institution 
went under. The condition of the affairs of the bank was 
verv bad, and the stockholders and even the depositors 
despaired of ever getting their money back. It was in 1 880 
thai he was appointed receiver of the bank, and inside of six 
months he had so managed its affairs that the depositors 
were paid in full and the business of the institution was 
close.) np to the perfect satisfaction of everybody concerned. 

This achievement attracted the attention of big capital- 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 365 

ists and the directors of large concerns, who desired to 
secure the advice and co-operation of such a wonderful 
financial manager. The consequence was that he was in- 
duced to go into one company and another. 

His work as receiver of the First National Bank was 
fulfilled with an energy and ability that drew from the 
comptroller of the currency the wannest expressions of ap- 
proval. Such evidence of business skill as this quickly won 
him a prominent place, not only in Paterson, but in the 
whole State. If any enterprise got its affairs in a dismal 
tangle Hobart was the man selected to do the untangling. 
He had a peculiar combination of legal knowledge and 
business acumen, pre-eminently fitting him for a success- 
ful man of affairs. No man is connected with so many 
of the enterprises in New Jersey as he. A full list of 
them would more than fill a page of this book. He is a 
director of several national banks, and on the directory 
board of several railroads and other companies, and de votes 
his energies to securing the best services to the public. 

A glance at the character of Mr. Hobart is sufficient to 
account for the success which has followed him in what- 
ever channel he chose to direct his energies. He is a man 
of unruffled temperament at all times, who evidently be- 
lieves in paving manifold the debt of cheery friendliness 
which every man owes to his fellows. No matter how over- 
whelmed he may be with business, he is always ready to 
listen to those who call on him for advice. In Paterson, 
where Mr. Hobart has spent all his life excepting the days 
of his childhood and boyhood, he is considered the leader 
in every project tending to the advancement of the city. 
The whole State is his friend, lie is endowed with nearly 



i 



3(J6 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

all the graces that go to make a man popular with his fel- 
lows, useful to the interests entrusted to his care, and useful 
to the State. He holds many positions of private trust, and 
in these he is scrupulously faithful, working for others as 
he would work for himself. 

It is not alone in financial ways that Mr. Ilobart is 
appealed to continually, but in other ways. If a man gets 
into trouble and stops to think who can best help him out, 
the first name that suggests itself is that of Ilobart. And he 
has at one time or other helped so many men that no matter 
what happens, when others are in trouble, he generally 
succeeds in his mission of relief, because he must ask the 
assistance of somebody whom he has himself helped in 
former times. For this reason his influence is boundless 
among his own people, and really no man can be of more 
help in times of trouble than he. 

Of the letters he receives, it may be said that Ilobart 
never permits one to remain unanswered, no matter what its 
character or how trivial it may be. His mail is always 
immense, but every letter is read by him personally, and an 
answer dictated or written. If not of special importance, 
or confidential, the answer is dictated. If the nature of the 
answer involves something strictly personal and confiden- 
tial, the answer is written by Ilobart himself. He is a 
rapid writer, and his chirography is large and plain. His 
letters are models of comprehensive terseness, no matter 
under what stress they may have been written. He touches 
the vital point at once, and expresses it in language that 
could hardly he improved by hours of study. 

And no matter how busy lie may be, Ilobart never 
seems to be in a rush. I Ie can handle half a dozen different 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. g<)7 

subjects at one time, and never get them mixed up. His 
mind can go from one subject to another of an entirely dif- 
ferent character with the rapidity of lightning. He can 
pick up the thread of a conversation on any subject from 
the very point where it was dropped, the day, the month, 
the year before. It seems as if his brain were a well-ar- 
ranged laboratory, with shelves and drawers, on which 
were stored the memoranda of every subject he has con- 
sidered, and when the time comes he can take the subject 
down from the shelf or from the brain receptacle, and re- 
sume its consideration the same as one picks up the thread 
of a continued story from week to week. 

He is a great arbitrator. In 1895, when the presidents 
of thirty railroads selected three men to select three others to 
settle finally all differences that might arise between the 
members of the Joint Traffic Association, the greatest ag- 
gregation of representative capital on earth, Hobart was one 
of the first three selected. 

His capacity for business is simply tremendous. He 
is a director of at least sixty different companies, and bis 
memory is so retentive that he can remember the closesl 
details of each. If the secretary, for instance, were to read 
off a financial statement adopted at a previous meeting, and 
there was an error of a figure, he would detect it at once. 
He is the president of the Paterson Railway Company, 
which owns all the main trolley lines of the city. He 
knows the kind of truck, the name of the conductor and 
motorman, and every detail of every car. As treasurer of 
the Cedar Lawn Cemetery Company, he does not confine 
himself to the financial aspect of the corporation, but can 
tell the location of every grave and monument. He is the 



368 LIFE 0P GARRET A. HOBART. 

president of the water company that supplies Paterson, and 
could, perhaps, enumerate the hydrants; and so it is with 
everything he is connected with, so minutely does his mind 
grasp everything. One would imagine that, with such a 
complex system of business as he manages, his brain would 
be all in a whirl; but it is not. When he goes to bed at 
night he throws away all thoughts of business a- he would 
take off his clothes, and his head is not on his pillow three 
minutes before he is asleep. 

It cannot be denied that Hobart was born under a lucky 
star of some kind. Everything he connects himself with 
is apparently successful. It is for this reason that every 
time something new is started he is besought to take stock in 
it, for the originators of the scheme have confidence that 
the magic name of Hobart is all that is necessary to secure 
the permanency and success of the enterprise. 

It was his remarkable ability to settle matters from a 
practical business standpoint, rather than from a legal 
aspect, that made Hobart the great success that he is, that 
has increased his capital from $1.50 to a large fortune. As 
soon as he began to make a little money he invested it, and 
he never make a mistake in the character of his investments 
that is known. The same judgment and foresight that 
directed his work for others guided him in his own affairs, 
and he seemed to know the good from the bad, the safe from 
the unsafe, as if bv instinct. 

" It is a peculiarity of Mr. Hobart," says Governor 
( rriggs, one of 1 1 ol .art's (dose friends, " that he never makes 
a mistake. He seems intuitively to know what to do, no 
matter what the emergency may be, and had he hours and 
days to consider the subject he could not reach a better 






LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 369 

decision than be does on the jump, as i1 were Ajidanother 
happy faculty of his is thai when he once makes a friend 
lie never makes the mistake of Losing that friend. Once a 
friend always a friend is the case with llobart. lie seems 
to be able to reacl character as if it were a book. Xo man 
can deceive him. And so, knowing every man's peculiarity, 
likes and dislikes, he knows how to take him, and treats him 
accordingly. The result is that every man coming in con- 
tact with him is charmed." 

There is a genial magnetism in the personal presence of 
llobart that is fascinating. He is the most approachable 
of men under any and all circumstances. He is apparently 
interested in the caller's business, no matter how trivial it 
may be. Appeal to him on behalf of charity, and his 
heart is opened at once. 

" Is the case all right — is it deserving ? " he will ask, 
and an affirmative answer brings out a check book or a roll 
of bills from his vest pocket. 

" Sometimes I feel ashamed of my weakness," said he 
recently, " but I cannot stand these appeals. Just look at 
this one mail. Here are twelve letters, and six of them 
are requests for assistance. What am I to do ? I must put 
a stop to this some time. If I don't I will be put in the 
place of these fellows, and will have to go begging myself." 

Mr. ITohart talked on some other subjects for a few 
moments, in a half-abstracted sort of way, as if wrestling 
with his conscience or his spirit of benevolence, and then 
glanced over the letters again. The subject was not orally 
referred to again, but not long afterward llobart pulled out, 
his check book and wrote out six checks for the six appli- 
cants. Only a wealthy man could stand such a drain, 



370 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

for there is a constant demand on him for assistance of some 
sort or another, and it is feared that more than once unscru- 
pulous parties have taken advantage of his generosity and 
imposed on his good nature. 

Hobart's knowledge of current events and of passing 
affairs is simply marvelous. He seems to know everything 
about everybody. If some information is taken to him, he 
listens gladly, but when you are through he will tell you still 
later developments. He knows the financial standing of 
every man or firm of prominence in the country. The 
standing of every corporation, railroad, or other enterprise 
he seems to know all about. In regard to individuals he 
can tell one the standing, the peculiarities, the successes and 
trials of almost any man one could name in the State of 
New Jersey, and most of those in New York. His knowl- 
edge of all these details has frequently amazed his most 
intimate friends. 

His acquaintanceship is remarkably wide. He per- 
sonally knows all the great men of the country, and it may 
be truthfully said that among his friends there are about 
as many Democrats as Republicans. They all like him 
regardless of political proclivities. 

With all this Mr. Hobart is the most unassuming of men. 
He has horses and carriages, but lie generally walks from 
his house to his office. On Sunday afternoons, perhaps, 
he may be seen out in his four-seated surrey, driving through 
the park or the suburbs, but never alone. He is too sociable 
for that. Sometimes he and Mrs. Hobart may be seen on 
the road behind a pair of bay horses, Hobart holding the 
reins, and he is an expert driver, but generally there is a 
crowd in the carriage with him, and the carriage he likes 



LIFE OF GARRET A. IIOBART. 371 

best will scat twelve persons. Many prominent men have 
ridden in that vehicle. 

Immense as Hobart's business transactions are, the doors 
of his office arc never closed. There is no Holy of Holies 
marked " Private," the only thing on the door being the 
unostentatious name, " Mr. Hobart." And that door is 
always open. If not engaged the visitor is at liberty to 
walk in, and a cordial greeting and hearty welcome that 
makes one at ease at once. 

Hobart is always at home to his friends when he is at 
home himself, in his house at Carroll and Ellison Streets. 
Before the blizzard he lived out in Twelfth Avenue, where 
Governor Griggs now lives, but on the night of the big- 
snow he could not get home. That settled it. He was not 
going to live in any place that he could not reach in all sorts 
of weather, and so he bought the house in which he now 
lives. This has been remodelled considerably in the in- 
terior and a large art gallery added. 

This house is on one of the shadiest, most aristocratic and 
quietest streets of Paterson, and is a roomy mansion, and is 
known as Carroll Hall. It is an unpretentious three-story 
frame house, yet it is a model of refined elegance, and the 
hospitality of the popular owner and his amiable and ac- 
complished wife is famed far and wide. 

The piazzas are wide. There is lawn enough to give 
the drab house a setting. Big elms shade both house and 
lawn. 

The interior of the house is superb in arrangement and 
decoration. In the music room alone the paintings which 
hide the walls make up a notable collection. The library 
is a model of comfort. It is Hobart's favorite room. It 



;J72 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

is there his friends find him. The front door of his house 
is always open. There yon have one of the secrets of the 
man's popularity, lie is not formal, lie has always been 
accessible. 

Mrs. Ilobart is a decidedly fine-looking woman of 
medium height, with dark hair and eyes. Without sacri- 
ficing her dignity she is of a merry, mischievous disposition, 
bright of w 7 it and ready with an answer upon any subject. 
She is a brilliant conversationalist, a wide reader, and 
thoroughly up in politics. 

It has been said for Hobart that one of his character- 
istics is that he never makes a mistake. He certainly did 
not make a mistake when he fell in love with and married 
Jennie Tuttle. Nor was it a mistake on her part, for a 
happier married life was never spent by any couple, their 
career having been one of continued and ever-increasing 
happiness till the time of the arrival of the one great blow 
of their lives, in the death of their only daughter, in the 
summer of 1895. 

The death of Miss Fanny, a lovable, lively, and accom- 
plished young lady, the center of admiration of a large 
circle of friends, was indeed almost a death-blow to her 
mother, to whom she was not only a daughter, but con- 
stant friend and companion. On May 1, 1895, Mr. and 
Mrs. Hobart, together with Fanny and " Junior " (Mr. Ho- 
bart's only son, named after him, but always called " Jun- 
ior "), iind Mi^s Miittie Stivers, Miss Hobart's dearest friend, 
started fur a summer's trip through Europe, sailing on the 
American liner "New York. In less than two months Miss 
Fanny was dead. When at Lake Corno, Italy, she was 
3uddenly stricken with diphtheria, and, in spite of the best 






LIFE OF CAUKFT A. HOBART. 373 

attendance, died in a few hours. The grief of the parents 

was terrible. That of Mis. Hobart, it was feared, was 
dangerous. 

The grief was intensified by the fact that the body had 
to be left there in consequence of the contagious character 
of the disease from which she died. The funeral took 
place at midnight, in the little English church-yard, the 
grounds poorly lighted with lanterns, and only the members 
of the family present. The happy tour was abandoned, 
and the stricken family returned home. Mrs. Hobart re- 
mained so prostrated with sorrow after she returned to the 
comparatively lonesome home, that for months she was in 
a melancholy state, and it was not until during the winter 
season, when the body was brought home, and laid in the 
family plot at Cedar Lawn, that the strain seemed to pass, 
and the stricken mother could think of something else than 
her great grief. 

Mrs. Hobart, however, has her only son and her hus- 
band to live for, and to them she devotes her life. " Jun- 
ior " is a bright little fellow of about 12 years. He has 
been a delicate child, but is getting better now, and rides 
his bicycle, and plays ball like other boys, and there is every 
prospect of his becoming a strong, healthy man. 

The care and anxiety for the lad have occupied a good 
deal of Mrs. Hobart's time, and this, together with her at- 
tention to her domestic duties, and charitable work, have 
constituted her chief work in life. She is a model house- 
keeper. Her house always looks homelike and comfortable. 
There is nothing for mere show, but for convenience and 
comfort. Every chair and settee is placed in such a por- 
tion that it seems to be a standing invitation to rest, every 
23 



374 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBAKT. 

t;i I ilc is set jusl right in the room, and there is a general air 
of welcome everywhere that makes the visitor feel at home 
the minute he has lifted his eyes after placing his hat and 
cane in the hall rack. All this is not accident. It is the 
effect of a subtle touch of a domestic woman. Every arti- 
cle of furniture, every picture, every piece of bric-a-brac in 
the house seems to bear the individuality of the dominant 
spirit of the hostess. 

Having a large house, with no end of distinguished call- 
ers on her husband, she manages tilings with such a quiet 
system that she finds time to devote to other things, espe- 
cially to charity. The names of benevolence and Mrs. 
Hobart are synonymous in Paterson. She is a member of 
the Presbyterian Church of the Redeemer, and active in 
all the work connected with that church. Her chief work 
of charity, however, is in connection with the Old Ladies' 
Home. She is the president of the organization, and a 
dominant spirit of the noble charity; all the meetings of 
the managers are held at her house. The Old Ladies' Home 
is a beautiful building, and is the home of respectable and 
well brought up old ladies whose relatives have all died. 
There the old ladies pass their declining years surrounded 
with nil the comforts of a home, without anything that 
savors of a charitable institution. This, it might be said, 
is Mis. TTobart's pet charity, and she is devoted to the work. 

Bui this does not constitute her entire charitable action. 
She is constantly doing something for somebody. Tt is 
all done so quietly, so unostentatiously, that even her closest 
friends know nothing of it. Only by accident are some of 
these ads discovered. " Tf there be a poor family that she 
hears of, suffering for the necessaries of life," said a friend 






LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. :;;;, 

recently, " the ravens fly into the door with food. Bui qo 
one but Mrs. Hobart knows who sent the ravens. A harsh 
landlord threatens to turn out an impecunious family. Mrs. 
Hobart hears of it. For some reason, unknown to the dis- 
tressed family, the landlord fails to carry out the threat. 
Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas gifts find their way to 
the hospitals and orphan asylums — no one knows whence, 
except God and the giver. Surrounded, as she is, by every 
comfort and luxury herself, her heart is touched when she 
hears of those in suffering and deprivation, and they do not 
go unrelieved if this noble-hearted woman hears of the 
case. 

Mrs. Hobart's home life is the calm, unruffled life of 
an essentially domestic woman. She is modest and unas- 
suming, and likes her home better than anything else in the 
world. When she heard of her husband's name being con- 
nected with the Vice-Presidency, she rather shrunk from it, 
for she knew what that meant to her in a social way. The 
quiet retirement of her own home on Carroll Street would 
have suited her better. But her life is a part of that of her 
husband, and she said that whatever he wanted she wanted. 
Her feelings are entirely subservient to his happiness. 

Mrs. Hobart is a charming entertainer. To those who 
remain at dinner, or over night, the domestic machinery 
seems to move as smoothly as a well-oiled door. There is 
no friction, not a false move or misstep. 

Mrs. Hobart is a brilliant conversationalist. She i^ an 
expert in relating an anecdote or telling a story. Comm< »n- 
place gossip is not in her sphere. She can intelligently 
converse on a wide range of subjects; be it politics, music, 
art, literature, or what not, the listener imagines that she 



376 JAFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

lias made of the subject at hand a life study. The picture 
gallery attached to Mr. Hobart's residence has few equals 
in the State. It is not large, but every piece is a gem, and 
some are the works of the great masters. 

Mrs. Hobart has been much in the society of the great 
men of the 1 country, who have visited her husband. She 
has been in Europe several times, and has traveled much in 
this country, from which she has attained an astonishing 
familiarity with different places and countries. Her mem- 
ory is extremely retentive, and her descriptive powers 
fascinating, so that she can interest her guest by the hour 
by what she has seen and experienced. 

Withal, Mrs. Hobart is essentially a home maker and a 
home lover, and is never so happy as when quietly at home. 
She is devotion itself to her husband, and the telegram she 
sent him on learning of his nomination was characteristic 
of her sweet unselfishness — " Where thou goest I will go." 

The friendships of Hobart have not been bounded by 
political or religious lines. All classes of his fellow citizens 
unite to do honor to him whom they know as a plain, every- 
day Patersonian; a man of democratic tastes and simplicity, 
one whose charities are bounded not by race or religion, but 
by his ability to give. The subscriptions for the erection 
of St.' John's and other Catholic churches bear the name of 
0. A. Hobart. The subscription lists for the Barnert Me- 
nu trial Temple and for every other church of every other 
denomination have his name on them. The hospitals, the 
orphan asylums, the Old Ladies' 1 Home, and every other 
charity, private and public, have felt his beneficence. He 
dues good quietly and unostentatiously. lie is the one 
man who can justly be called " Paterson's first citizen," and 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 377 

lie has earned that proud place, because, in his character 
and his daily life before his fellowmen, he is worthy of it. 

Nothing could more adequately show the esteem in 
which he is held by his fellow citizens than the magnificent 
tribute paid him on his return from the St. Louis conven- 
ts m. 1 1 was directed by a desire on the part of all the peo] tie 
to do honor to the man who had honored them and their 
abiding place. Political ties were lost sight of. Demo- 
crats vied with Republicans in showing their esteem. 

If politics was lacking in this handsome tribute, so, too, 
was every suggestion of class distinction or social division. 
Artisan and aristocrat, banker and bootblack, laywer and 
laborer — each wore the emblematic badge of their devo- 
tion to Mr. ITobart, and if distinctions do exist among the 
host of Paterson people who admire Mr. Hobart, they were 
conspicuously invisible that night. In every section of the 
city, in the business mart, the residential section, among 
the factories, in the workshop, along the main thorough- 
fares, and in the more remote streets — everywhere there 
was something to testify to the popular approbation. A 
bit of bunting here, a picture there, here a badge, and there 
a ribbon — each bore its testimony to the universal senti- 
ment of Hobart enthusiasm. 

Ten thousand people at the very least were packed in 
the huge armory, when the venerable Judge Hopper arose 
to announce that the Mayor of the city, Christian Brann, 
would preside over the gathering. It was a Democratic 
judge who made the announcement. It was a Democratic 
mayor who responded to the call, but in the speech of each 
there was ringing the same admiration for the Paterson 
man, who had been as highly honored. 



378 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

Judge Hopper said: " During the many years I have 
lived in this city, I have never seen an occasion to equal 
this. The people of Paterson, without distinction of party, 
sex, or race, have assembled to honor a fellow citizen in the 
person of Garret A. Ilobart. My duty in connection with 
this is very simple and plain, but I cannot help taking ad- 
vantage of the opportunity to express my personal appre- 
ciation upon the honor that has been conferred upon one 
of our fellow townsmen, which is the occasion of this meet- 
ing. It is a great pleasure, of course, to see one of our own 
fellow citizens honored by receiving the nomination for 
the second highest office of the United States. And we 
are here to-night to express our personal appreciation of his 
character, and the esteem in which he is held by his fellow 
townsmen, regardless of party." 

Seldom is any man given such an ovation as that ac- 
corded to TTobart when he rose to respond. When he was 
permitted to speak, he did so in a few words of character- 
istic simplicity and directness: "In the plainest words 
possible, my friends," he said, " I can only tender to you 
for this magnificent testimonial, this superb tribute to me 
and to the State of New Jersey, which in some degree I 
represent, my deepest thanks for all this scene, for all the 
confidence in me which you have shown. 

" I would rather have the confidence and esteem of my 
fellow citizens, including men of all political parties, win mi 
T find here to-night, than have any office in the gift of 
the people. Tt is only the non-partisan aspect of this as- 
semblage that makes it possible for me to be here at all to- 
night, because under any other circumstances it would not 
he proper nor prudent for mo to address you at this time. 



LIFE OF GARRET A- HOBART. 379 

" Whatever I have acquired has been acquired in the city 
of Paterson, and belongs here. Whatever of repute lias 
come to me, belongs likewise to your city. And so this 
honor, which has just become mine, is also yours. What- 
ever I have, whatever I shall have, is and will be one to 
the citizens of Paterson, to the confidence and esteem of 
my friends and neighbors, which I have always so greatly 
enjoyed. Perhaps I cannot better express my idea than 
by concluding with a quotation from Robert Burns, where- 
in he says: 

The monarch may forget the crown that on his head an hour hath 

been ; 
The bridegroom may forget the bride was made his wedded wife 

yestreen ; 
The mother may forget the child that smiled so sweetly on her knee ; 
But I'll remember thee, Glencairn, and all that thou hast done for me. 

During his speech, Mr. Ilobart was repeatedly inter- 
rupted by cheers, and when he spoke of Judge Hopper as 
his early friend, and turned and grasped the venerable judge 
by the hand, the cheering was tremendous. 

While the paraders were forming outside the armory, 
Hobart and Governor Griggs walked through the streets 
with the crowd to his home, where the parade was reviewed, 
and where Hobart cordially grasped his friends by the hands. 
A man is best known amid his daily surroundings and by 
his neighbors. There is no glamor there to obscure the 
judgment, for he is seen in his every-day life, with no audi- 
ence to pose to, and with no object to practice 1 the dissimula- 
tion which all public men use. more or less, before the 
world. Mr. Hobart has always been a straightforward, can- 
did and approachable man, and he has lived in the open, 



380 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

amid the busy activities of life, himself one of its most active 
and busy factors, feeling for others, sympathizing with them, 
helping them, and doing more than his share towards the 
common weal. 

On July 7, the committee of notification, appointed by 
the St. Louis convention, arrived at Paterson. The offi- 
cial notification was given by Chairman C. W. Fairbanks 
of Indianapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Hobart, surrounded by a 
few Paterson friends and the committee, stood upon the spa- 
cious veranda, while the yard, and the streets near by, were 
filled with people. Hobart accepted the nomination in a 
graceful speech, planting himself squarely upon the plat- 
form of his party, and lucidly stating the issue. 






THE PARTY. 

" Whenever there is anything to he done for this coun- 
try, it is to the Republican party we must look to have 

it done." — William McKinley, at the Lincoln Banquet, Marquette 
Club, Chicago, February 12, 1896. 



(381) 






CHAPTER XXXIV. 

REPUBLICAN PROGRESS — EVENTS LEADING TO THE 
FORMATION OF A GREAT PARTY. 

Growth of the Country under Republican Administrations — 
Slavery at the Time of the Revolution — Toleration of the Sys- 
tem — British Proclamations — Slavery Preserved by a Yan- 
kee Invention — Whitney's Cotton Gin — Potentiality of In- 
dividual Action — The Missouri Compromise — The War with 
Mexico and its Results — Admission of California — What the 
South Threatened — Features of the Compromise of 1850 — 
The Battle for Freedom in Kansas — Song of the Emigrants — 
" Westward the Course of Empire." 

THE history of the Republican party, since it came 
into existence, is practically the history of the 
United States for the last forty years. Since that 
party was organized the nation's population has more than 
doubled; we have seen the destruction of African slavery, 
with nil its catalogue of evils; we have passed through a 
war which jeopardized the safety of the nation, but resulted 
in the establishment of the government on a firmer basis 
than it had ever known before; and we have witnessed a 
degree of progress in the arts and industries of our national 
life greater than any similar period has ever experienced. 
The railway and the telegraph have been extended 

from end to end of the United States, and the resources of 

(388) 



384 THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

the country developed with a rapidity undreamed of in the 
days of Andrew Jackson and his compeers. Manufactur- 
ing and agricultural industries have more than doubled the 
nation's wealth, and given her a foremost rank as the source 
from which the whole civilized globe may be supplied; our 
seaports have been filled with shipping from all lands, and 
between our Atlantic coast and the great harbors of Europe 
there are fleets of steamers engaged in exchanging our pro- 
ducts for those of other lands. Our commerce extends 
to all parts of the globe, and our influence among the nations 
is increasing year by year. 

At the time of the Revolution, which made us independ- 
ent of England and laid the foundation of the republic as 
we see it to-day, the slavery question was not regarded as of 
great importance for the future. The institution had 
existed throughout the whole country, lint it had practically 
disappeared in some of the northern States and was destined 
to disappear before many years in others. The framers of 
the Constitution had little fear that the system would be of 
long duration, and some of the founders of the republic 
predicted that it would altogether cease to exist within the 
next fifty years. There was then a population of three mil- 
lions; about half ;i million were slaves, and it was argued 
that where the institution numbered only one-sixth of the 
inhabitants of the country, there could be no danger of its 
long continuance. 

All the colonies tolerated slavery, bnt the system was 
mainly confined to the southern States, where it gave con- 
siderable trouble to the patriots engaged in the struggle for 
liberty. British governors and generals in the field issued 
proclamations offering freedom to the slaves, and it was 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. :;s;> 

not long before the news reached the black men on the plan' 
tations, and in every other place throughout the colonies 
where they existed. 

Thousands of the negroes took advantage of these proc- 
lamations, and fled to the British camp, where they were 
immediately set free and received the promised protection. 
They became of great use to the British commanders in 
showing the roads through the country, and otherwise serv- 
ing as guides and spies. There were constant fears of an 
insurrection among the negroes on the plantations, and the 
movements of the continental armies in the southern States 
were often hindered by the necessity of providing against 
the possibility of such disturbances. The New England 
States, with a population much smaller than that of Vir- 
ginia. Georgia, and the Carolinas, had twice as many men 
in the held, and the history of the Revolution reveals very 
plainly the fears of the slaveholders, and their helplessness 
in the time of war. 

But the predictions or hopes of some at least of the 
f ramers of the Constitution were not realized. Not only 
did slavery fail to die out, but it increased in strength, and 
whenever new territory was added to the country, the slave- 
holders claimed the right to go there with their human 
property. It was a long and earnest struggle on both sides, 
hut there was not the same division of parties that arose in 
later years. 

The slave-trade was brought to an end in 1808, at least 
in all its legal features, though several cargoes id' negroes 
were surreptitiously brought into the country after that 
time. The suppression of the traffic was thought by many 
to be the beginning of tin 1 end, and so it might have been 



386 TilE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

but for the invention of a northern school-teacher, one Eli 
Whitney. 

What had the northern school-teacher to do with it '. 

The South could produce cotton in enormous quanti- 
ties, but the process of separating the lint from the seed 
was one that required a great deal of labor. It was es- 
timated that a single person could only separate a pound of 
lint from the seed in a single day; therefore the process was 
unprofitable, since cotton at the price thus necessitated 
could not be sold in competition with wool. 

Mr. Whitney was an inventive genius who went South 
soon after he graduated from college, and sought em- 
ployment in teaching school. Learning of the value of 
cotton and the difficulty of its preparation, he set to work 
to devise a machine that would take the place of hand- 
labor. In a few weeks he completed it, and, in partner- 
ship with another northern man, began the manufacture 
of the cotton-gin. Great events often turn upon the acts 
of individuals. 

An English writer has said that the feet of a pretty 
peasant girl, twinkling in a brook, attracted the attention 
of a Norman Duke, and made her the mother of William 
The Conqueror. Had she not thus fascinated the founder 
of a line of kings there would have been no invasion of 
Elngland, no defeat at Hastings, no union of Saxon and 
Norman, no United Kingdom, no British Empire. 

Perhaps, it Eli Whitney had not spent the winter of 
IT*.*- in the house of Mrs. Greene of Georgia, there would 
have been no cotton-gin, no increase in the value of the cot- 
ton product, no enormous demand for slave-labor, no Mis- 
souri Compromise, no aggressions of the slave-power, no 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. S87 

Republican party, and no civil war for the destruction or 
the preservation of the Union. 

The invention of "Whitney made valuable millions of 
acres that had been lying waste, and increased the price of 
slaves more than ten-fold in the localities where their labor 
could be made most useful in the cotton field. The whole 
South was enriched by the invention, and where there had 
been only a few thousand bales of cotton made every year 
before the cotton-gin came into use, there were many 
thousand bales annually turned out in the early part of the 
century. It was estimated that in 1793 there were about 
five thousand bales of cotton made in the then United 
States, while in 1859, the year before the war, the product 
was more than five millions of bales, being three-fourths 
in weight and seven-eighths in value of all the cotton pro- 
duced in the whole world. See what the brain of a single 
man could accomplish ! 

Following the invention of the cotton-gin came the 
desire to extend the system of slavery wherever the land 
was favorable to the cultivation of cotton. The Louisiana 
purchase, and the addition of its territory to our own, gave 
the opportunity for the formation of new slave States, and 
naturally roused the hostility of those who desired the end 
of the system of forced labor. 

The agitation growing out of this state of affairs 
brought about the Missouri Compromise of 1820, by which 
slavery was forbidden to go into any new territory north of 
the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes. Then 
followed legislation in various forms and at different times; 
but the question of slavery was not made a distinct line be- 
tween the great political parties until some time later. 



388 THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

The Democrats were generally ardent sympathizers 
with the slaveholders, while the Whigs were opposed to 
them, but in many of the party differences, the tariff and 
the question of appropriations for internal improvements 
were most prominent. Of course the dispute about slavery 
was not at any time forgotten, and almost invariably came 
up through an effort of the South to obtain fresh conces- 
sions in their behalf. 

The war with Mexico was denounced through the 
North as a war for the extension of slavery, and it resulted 
in adding Texas to the list of slave States, but it gave in 
addition a large area on the Pacific Coast that was destined 
to be the home of freedom. The acquisition of California 
was one of the results of the war with Mexico, and so was 
the territory then and now known as New Mexico. The 
hero of the war, General Zachary Taylor, was elected presi- 
dent, in 1848, and the event was due more to his persistent 
silence on the question of slavery in the territories than to 
any outspoken sentiments on the subject. 

The convention that nominated him did not put for- 
ward any distinctive platform throughout the whole can- 
vass. It was impossible to draw any positive utterances 
on this subject from the Whigs, the party that supported 
him. The opposition was divided between General Lewis 
( ass, nominated by the Democrats, and Martin Van Burcn, 
(lie nominee of the Free Soil party. Taylor was success- 
ful by a plurality instead of a majority; some of the South- 
ern States refused to support him, but, on the other hand, 
lie received the votes of New York and Pennsylvania, 
which had always been considered as holding the balance 
of power in presidential elections. 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. :;s<) 

The election led to the separation of many Whigs and 
Democrats from their parlies, and their union with the 
Free Soil party which was every year gaining in strength, 
numerically, and in moral influence. 

Soon after the inauguration of Taylor as president of 
the United States there was an excitement throughout the 
country over the discovery of gold in California. Thou- 
sands of adventurers were flocking to the Pacific coast from 
all parts of the country, and it was evident that California 
would soon be asking for admission as a sovereign State. 

Should California be slave or free ? 

The people of the new commonwealth decided the ques- 
tion without waiting for congressional action. A con- 
vention was called to form a constitution and organize a 
local government, and without any delay it decided that 
slavery should forever be excluded from the future State. 
Delegates were sent to Washington to ask for the admission 
of California into the Union, and the request roused all the 
bitterness of party politics which had been slumbering for 
several years. 

There were threats that the South would secede from 
the Union, and many persons feared that the country was 
on the verge of civil war. The fierce debates resulted in 
a compromise, and a committee of thirteen was appointed 
to draft a bill which should settle the differences between 
the North and South. It was finally reported and passed 
after a discussion which lasted four months; the bill is 
known in history as the Compromise Act of 1850, and 
also, by reason of several distinct measures that were in- 
cluded in it, as The Omnibus Bill. 

The most important stipulations of the compromise of 
24 



390 T11 ^ REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

L850 were, that California should be admitted into the 
Union as a free state; that all the region east of it to the 
Rocky Mountains should form the territory of Utah with- 
out mention of slavery, and that New Mexico should be 
formed into a territory under the same conditions. Then 
it was further provided that the slave-trade should be 
abolished in the District of Columbia; but as an offset to this 
came the fugitive slave law, which provided that slaves es- 
caping from bondage into any of the northern States should 
be arrested and delivered up to their masters. 

This was the measure that created great dissatisfaction 
both Xorth and South, and led to much bitterness of feeling. 
It may be regarded more than any one political enactment 
as the event which led to the formation of the Republican 
party. 

President Taylor died in little more than a year after 
entering upon the duties of his high office, and was suc- 
ceeded by Millard Fillmore. Nothing of importance oc- 
curred during the administration of the latter, but it was 
the calm thai preceded the storm. 

In L852 Franklin Pierce was elected, and the first part 
of his administration was chiefly occupied with foreign 
complications which hud no serious result. Later on 
came the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which threw the newly- 
organized territories of Kansas and Nebraska open to the 
admission of slaves. It was virtually a repeal of the com- 
promise incisures of 1850, as it allowed the people of those 
territories to say whether they would have slavery or not 
without regard to the line of demarkation of 36 degrees 30 
minutes. 

Congress and the people were taken by surprise, and if 






THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 301 

the proposers of the measure could have foreseen the trou- 
ble it would create, it is doubtful if they would have made 
the venture. There was a storm of indignation through 
the whole North; public meetings were held in almost every 
village and the measure was severely denounced by all ex- 
cept the sympathizers with slavery. So many remon- 
strances were made and sent to the Senate that it looked at 
one time as though the measure would be defeated; but 
finally it became a law, and the new territory was opened to 
the owners of slaves. Nebraska was so far to the north that 
no effort was undertaken to make it a slave State, and the 
battle was mainly confined to Kansas. 

Those who are familiar with the events of forty years 
ago do not need to be told how emigration aid societies were 
formed through the North, and how great sums of money 
were raised to secure the settlement of Kansas by a popula- 
tion that would be in favor of freedom. There were mem- 
orable events in those days, and eloquent voices and gifted 
pens were enlisted in the cause. Those who witnessed the 
departure of the first emigrant society from Boston will re- 
member the excitement which prevailed through the city, 
as the little band of settlers marched to the railway station 
where they sang the words of Whittier which had been 
written for the occasion: 

" We cross the prairies as of old 

Our fathers crossed the sea. 
To make the West, as they the East, 

The homestead of the free." 

As soon as it became known in the slave States that the 
people of the East were determined to settle Kansas with 



392 THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

men and women who believed in universal liberty, a move- 
ment was begun for the opposite purpose. Societies were 
formed in Missouri with the avowed object of settling the 
territory with slaveholders or sympathizers with slavery, and 
scores of men went there to take possession of lands and 
enter pre-emption claims. 

The work was done with very little pretence of honesty, 
many of the claimants returning to Missouri as soon as they L 
had made their entries and filed the necessary papers at 
the land offices. Blue Lodges, Social Bands, Sons of the 
South, and similar societies in the interest of slavery sprang 
into existence, and the colonization was vigorously pushed 
in all directions. 

Thus was begun the struggle for freedom or slavery in 
Kansas; its history would fill hundreds of pages of this vol- 
ume, and many of them would need to be written in blood. 
Emigrants from the Xorth were murdered by roving bands 
of Missourians; villages were laid waste and their inhabi- 
tants massacred in cold blood; men were placed in boats, 
without oars, and set adrift on the Missouri river for no 
other offense than that they were from northern states. 
Others were tarred and feathered, and otherwise maltreated 
for similar reasons. 

When the first election was held, several hundreds of 
Mi— ourians crossed the border, voted at the polls as citizens 
of Kansas, and returned immediately to their homes when 
the voting was over. In this and other ways Kansas was 
made to appeal' to be in favor of slavery; her free-state in- 
habitants made an indignant protest and a new election was 
ordered. For a time there was a serious conflict of author- 
ity between the people and the office-holders; the former 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. :;;•:', 

were mostly from the north and in favor of freedom, while 
the latter were in sympathy with the slaveholders. 

The city of Lawrence was attacked and burned by an 
armed force from Missouri and other southern States; Osa- 
watomie, in the southern part of the territory, suffered the 
same fate; and it appeared at one time as though the whole 
of the embryo State would he laid waste. 

The troubles in Kansas continued through 1855 and 
1856, and in the latter year conventions were held for the 
nomination of candidates for the presidency. The tariff 
question was of secondary importance, while that of slavery 
occupied the foremost rank. Long before the first of the 
conventions was called together, it was evident to all careful 
observers that great changes would be made in the positions 
of the parties in the impending contest. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

FORMATION AND GROWTH OF THE REPUBLICAN 
PARTY. 

Dissolution of the Whig Tarty — The "Know Nothings" and 
their Principles — Origin of the Republican Party — The 
National Conventions — Election of 1856 — Abraham Lincoln 
— Dramatic Incident at Rloomington — A Thrilling Event in 
Political Organization — Harmonizing Differences — Brooks 
and Sumner — The Dred Scott Decision — The Charleston 
Convention — How the Democratic Tarty was Sundered — 
The Election of Lincoln — The War and its Results — Recent 
History of the Party — The Nation's Progress under Republi- 
can Rule. 

THE old Whig party had boon dissolved through the 
action of its loaders in adopting the principles of 
slavery, and new parties were in process of 
organization. At many of the elections in the northern 
States in 1 s .% 1 and '55, they appeared at the polls in con- 
siderable force, and in some of the States the local elections 
were carried by them. 

One was known as the American party, and also as the 
"Know-Nothings"; it was opposed to foreign influence, 
and had an especial dread of Catholicism, and in order to 
counteract I he power of that religion, the leaders had 
deemed ii expedient to make a secret organization. Lodges 
were formed everywhere through the northern States, and 

(894) 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 395 

in many localities they had things pretty much as they 
liked. At the same time another party, known as 
Free Soilers, and later as Republicans, were rapidly gain- 
ing strength; it cared little for the influence of foreigners, 
but was outspoken in its hostility to slavery. 

It is easy to see that these two parties were not very 
widely separated, though the objects which they sought to 
accomplish were dissimilar. The American, as its name 
implied, was composed of native-born citizens, or of for- 
eigners who had altogether east themselves loose from the 
countries of their birth, and determined to spend the rest 
of their lives under the shelter of the stars and stripes. 

The first national convention of the Republicans was 
held at Pittsburg on the 22d of February, 1850, but it 
made no nominations; on the same day the American party 
met in convention at Philadelphia, its council having held 
a secret session three days before, and adopted a platform 
of principles. The most important feature of it was a 
plank which affirmed the right of the people of a territory 
to decide upon its own institutions whenever they had 
sufficient population to entitle them to one representative 
in Congress, but with the proviso that only those who were 
actual residents of the territory and citizens of the United 
States according to its laws should have any voice in form- 
ing the constitution or making tin 1 laws of said state or 
territory. 

This was not satisfactory to the anti-Nebraska element 
in the convention, and after an attempt 1<» harmonize the 
platform, fifty of the delegates withdrew altogether from 
the assemblage. The remainder proceeded to ballot for 
candidates, and finally chose Millard Fillmore and A. J. 



396 THE REPUBLICAN TARTY. 

Donelson as their standard-beavers in the presidential con- 
test. 

This nomination was ratified by a Whig convention in 
Baltimore in September, and consequently Fillmore and 
Donelson were the candidates of the united Whig and 
American parties in 1856. 

The Republicans held a convention in Philadelphia on 
the 17th of June and nominated John C. Fremont and 
William L. Dayton. The platform adopted on this occa- 
sion declared emphatically the hostility of the convention to 
slavery and polygamy, the " twin relics of barbarism," 
which it was the right and duty of Congress to prohibit in 
the territories. 

It further denied the right of any territorial legislature 
to establish slavery in any form, as long as the Constitution 
of the United States remained in force. The work of the 
convention was enthusiastically received throughout the 
North, and the canvass for Fremont and Dayton will long 
be remembered by those who took part in it. 

The Democrats in their convention, on the 2d of June, 
nominated James Buchanan and John C. Breckenridge, and 
adopted a platform in which was maintained the right of 
the territories to choose for themselves whether they should 
have shivery or not. The elections of Pennsylvania and 
Indiana in October showed that the Democrats were pretty 
certain to win in the presidential contest, but the o]>]>n<i- 
tion showed more strength than it had been credited with 
by the Democrats. 

Fillmore only carried the single state of Maryland, 
while the Republicans were successful in New York, all 
tin- New England state-, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 397 

fowa, thus giving their candidates 11 1 electoral rotes. The 
Democrats were victorious in all the slave States excepl 
Maryland, and all the other northern States which <li<l not 
go for Fremont; the total popular votes were as follows: 

Buchanan, 1,838,169 

Fremont, 1,341,264 

Fillmore, 874,534 

It will be seen that the Demoerats only won the election 
by a plurality, as they lacked .'577,629 votes of a majority. 
But a miss is as good as a mile in polities as in anything else, 
and Buchanan had a clear majority of 60 electoral votes 
over his opponents. 

In this election the American party did not manifest 
the strength which many of its supporters had confidently 
looked for, and it became evident that a large number of its 
constituents had voted with the Republicans. They real- 
ized that there were foreigners and foreigners; there were 
those who came here only for a brief sojourn, or retaining 
all their old-world prejudices, and others who came intend- 
ing to reside here and become citizens in every sense of the 
word. The most intelligent of the foreigners were in 
favor of freedom, and they naturally turned to the Repub- 
licans as their best friends; the hostility to foreign in- 
fluences did not always make fine discriminations, and a 
good many of the adopted citizens could not be induced 
to enroll themselves under the banners of the American 
party, though they were in general sympathy with its prin- 
ciples. 

The Republican party had its beginning in the north- 
west, and after the presidential contest of L856 there was a 



398 THE REPUBLICAN TARTY. 

cordial union between many of the foreign-born citizens 
and the " Americans." The movement had begun before 
this time, but had not made much progress on account of 
the prejudices just stated; for a good many years the De- 
mocracy had managed to control a large part of the for- 
eigners by the attraction of its name, and even at the pros 
ent time it retains many voters of Hibernian origin in the 
large cities of the North and South. But the Germans, 
Norwegians, and Swedes were not disposed to cast their 
lot with a party that favored human oppression, and when 
they saw the new organization on the basis of universal 
liberty they were not slow to join it. A leader was wanted 
for the new party, and he was found in the person of Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 

And here is a bit of local history which deserves a 
place in our record. We quote from Arnold's " Lincoln 
and Slavery," page 93. 

" A convention of the people of Illinois was called at 
Bloomington, in May, 185(3, to appoint delegates to the 
national convention which was to meet at Philadelphia in 
dune, to nominate candidates for president and vice-presi- 
dent. The Free Soil Democrats, Anti-Nebraska Demo- 
crats, Whigs, Americans, and liberty men of Illinois, and 
of all nationalities were brought together at this convention. 
and mainly through the influence of Mr. Lincoln, united 
on the broad platform of the Declaration of Independence, 
and hostility to the extension of slavery. 

" Great difficulty was found in laving down a satisfactory 
platform of principles; finally, after much controversy and 
discussion, with no satisfactory result, Mr. Lincoln, who 
was not present, was sent for by the committee on resolu- 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 399 

tions, and he solved the difficulty l>y suggesting , ' 1:lt all 
could unite on (he principles embodied in the Declaration 
of Independence and hostility to the extension of slavery. 
This suggestion was immediately accepted. k Let us/ said 
he, 'in building our new party, plant ourselves on the 
rock of the Declaration of Independence, and the gates of 
hell shall not be able to prevail against, us.' The conven- 
tion thereupon resolved: 

'That all men are endowed with the inalienable right 
to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and that the 
object of government is to secure these rights to all persons 
within its jurisdiction. This, and hostility to slavery, and 
a determination to resist its further extension, was the sub- 
stance of the platform adopted. Thus was organized the 
party that revolutionized the Democratic State of Illinois 
against the powerful influence of Douglas, and ultimately 
elected Mr. Lincoln to the presidency." 

At the convention in Philadelphia there was the same 
difficulty in overcoming the differences between the vari- 
ous elements, and the platform was substantially the same 
as the one in Illinois. But it needed a little more time to 
cement the union between them, and in this respect fortune 
favored the new party through the blunders of the old. 
History is said to repeat itself, and the Democratic party of 
to-day is not above giving aid to its opponents through ils 
own mistakes. 

During the year a brutal attack was made upon Charles 
Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts, by Preston S. Brooks 
of South Carolina. Sunnier had made a speech on the 
Kansas question in which he spoke -severely of Butler, a 
relative of Brooks. The latter came to the defense of his 



400 THE REPUBLICAN TARTY. 

kinsman by striking Mr. Sumner with a cane while he was 
seated at his desk, and wholly unaware of his assailant's 
presence. Mr. Sumner was beaten until lie was insensible 
and several friends of Brooks stood by to prevent interfer- 
ence with the hitter's brutality. 

The cowardly act of Brooks was applauded through the 
South, and the wonld-be assassin was for a time a hero 
among his own people. This event roused the people of 
the North more than any other single occurrence of the 
year, and showed that slavery was justly to be considered 
the sum of all villainies. The House of Representatives, 
of which Brooks was a member, did not see fit to expel him, 
but contented itself with a vote of censure. 

In the beginning of Buchanan's administration the fa- 
mous Dred Scott decision was pronounced by Chief Justice 
Taney, to the effect that no person whose ancestors had 
been imported to this country and sold as slaves had any 
right to sue in a court of the United States; in other words, 
no person who had been a slave or was descended from a 
slave had any right of citizenship. The learned judge de- 
cided that our Revolutionary fathers in the Declaration of 
Independence regarded the black men " as so far inferior 
thai I hey had no rights which the white man was bound 
to respect,' 1 and that " they were never thought or spoken 
of excepl as property." Tie further declared that the Mis- 
souri Compromise Act, and all other acts restricting slavery, 
were unconstitutional, and that neither Congress nor local 
legislatures had any right to legislate for the restriction of 
slavery. 

Mr. Buchanan had predicted that this decision would 
ettle the question of slavery, speedily and finally. Its ef- 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 4<H 

feet was to make the agitation greater than ever and rouse 

the spirit of hostility in the North. 

One of the results of this excitement was the raid of 
John Brown, in Virginia, a clear violation of the laws of t he 
State for which the leader was executed on the scaffold. 
The southern States became alarmed, not only at. the oc- 
currence itself, but at the open sympathy which was man- 
ifested through the North for John Brown's detestation of 
slaverv. Many good citizens, while knowing the act to he 
unjustifiable according to the laws of the land, realized 
that the hero of Harper's Ferry had suffered much, and 
his work was the natural outcome of his experience. 

From 1856 to 1800 the various elements opposed to 
Democracy and the slave-power had been uniting, and at 
the same time the Democrats had followed a course that 
was not calculated to unite them firmly. The elections m 
1859 showed that the Republican party had gained greatly 
since the last contest for the presidency, and the days of 
the slave-power were numbered. The leaders of the slave- 
holders saw there was no chance of their electing the man 
of their choice, and they proceeded to plot for the dissolu- 
tion of the Union by first dissolving the Democratic party. 

It was their plan to make use of a Republican victory 
by declaring that the President thus elected was a sectional 
one, opposed to the institution of slavery, and therefore 
dangerous as the head of the nation; they would then be 
justified in withdrawing from the Union, and setting up 
for themselves. Only a few of the leaders were in the 
secret, or were consulted in the preliminaries; but it was 
evident that the movement for secession was popular from 
the outset. 



402 THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

The national Democratic convention met in Charles- 
ton on the 23d of April, I860, for the purpose of nom- 
inating candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency. 
Many of the delegates from the slave States had come with 
instructions to demand from the convention a guaranty 
for the speedy practical recognition, by the general govern- 
ment and the people, of the system of slavery as a national 
institution. 

The convention re-affirmed the Cincinnati platform of 
popular sovereignty, of which Douglas was the exponent, 
whereupon the Alabama delegation, through its leader, 
Leroy P. Walker, withdrew from the convention. Their 
action was followed on that and the succeeding day by 
nearly all the delegates from the other slavcholding stales, 
and the disruption of the Democratic party was complete. 

The seceders, under the leadership of James A. Bay- 
ard of Delaware, assembled the next day, and adjourned to 
meet in Richmond, where they nominated John C. Breck- 
enridge as their candidate for the presidency. The regular 
convention also met in Baltimore, and nominated Mr. Dong- 
las to be their standard-bearer in the impending presidential 
contest. 

On the 0th of May, a small party, claiming to repre- 
sent the Constitution and the Union (founded on the ruins of 
the American party), nominated John Bell of Ten- 
nessee, and on the Kith of the same mouth, the Tvopnblican 
convention met in the famous wigwam at Chicago. A 
platform, of which the main feature was open hostility to 
slavery, was adopted, and, on the 19th of that month, AJbra- 
h.ini Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin were chosen as the 
candidates for the two great offices for which there was to 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 403 

Ik a struggle with mosl momentous consequences, as was 
slmv i by subsequent events. 

Four parties were thus in the field, but only two of them 
represented tangible interests, and met face to face in hat- 
lie. These were the pro-slavery wing of the Democracy, 
and the Republican party, now clearly defined as the op- 
ponent of slavery, and all that it represented. 

The contest was active throughout the country, but 
the hopeless division in the Democracy enabled the Repub- 
licans to carry every free State except New Jersey. Mr. 
Lincoln received ISO electoral votes against 123 of all 
others, the latter being given as follows: Breckinridge 72, 
Bell 39, and Douglas 12. 

In the popular vote Mr. Lincoln received 97G,1(>3 less 
than all his opponents, and thus gave occasion for the cry- 
that he would be a usurper of the presidential office, as he 
had not received a majority of the votes cast at the election. 
It will be remembered that Taylor and Buchanan were 
elected in just the same manner, but the Democrats never 
urged that either of them should decline the honors of being- 
chief of the nation on that account. 

Thus was elected the first Republican President, and 
the time between his election and inauguration was used 
to good advantage by the leaders of the secession move- 
ment. The events that followed were too numerous to be 
recapitulated here, — too numerous to permit even the 
briefest history. 

Out of the triumph of the Republican party in 1SC>0 
grew the war which was waged on one side for the destruc- 
tion of the Union, and on tin 1 other for its preservation. It 
was a war which has few if any parallels in history; a war 



404 rilK REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

in which an entire nation was divided against itself; a war 
in which were engaged millions of men speaking the same 
language and inhabiting the same country; a war where 
prodigies of valor were displayed on both sides, and where 
countless deeds of individual bravery were performed. 

It was a contest for an idea, the integrity of the Union 
• Hi the one hand, and the right to withdraw from it on the 
other. Families were divided, communities were broken 
up, brother fought against brother, and son against father, 
in this war which had for its beginning the restriction or the 
extension of the privileges of the owner of slaves. As 
time wore on, the causes of the strife were partially for- 
gotten. The arbitrament of the sword to which the South 
had appealed decided against it. Her armies were van- 
quished; slavery was forever abolished, and after four 
years of internecine strife peace was restored throughout 
the land. 

Thirty years have sufficed in great measure, at least 
to allay the passions that were aroused by the Civil war, and 
to knit the people of the country in more friendly relations. 
Few of those who fought under the Confederate flag would 
desire to see the old state of things restored, and the rights 
of the slaveholder established as they were before the war. 

The South has entered upon an era of prosperity such 
as -he had never known before. She has established manu- 
facturing and other industries, and promises to become 
very speedily the friendly rival of the North in the arts 
and arms of peace. Every year sees a more kindly feeling 
existing between what were once two distinct sections of 
the country, but now possessing a common interest. 

From 1860 to 1884 the Republican party nninterrnpt- 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 405 

edly held control of the presidential chair, and administered 
the affairs of the executive branch of the national govern- 
ment, ruder it the country was prosperous, its popula- 
tion and wealth greatly increased, new channels of trade 
and industry were opened, and railways were extended 
across the continent to unite the Pacific with the Atlantic 
coast. 

The salient events in the history of the party in that 
quarter of a century of its uninterrupted control arc too 
recent to need recapitulation. It sought to deal justly 
with all interests of the whole country, and that it was suc- 
cessful, the prosperity and growth of the nation is sufficient 
proof. That it made' occasional errors, its candid ad- 
herents will freely admit; parties, like men, are not omnis- 
cient, and the wisest among us cannot predict with un- 
erring accuracy the outcome of all political or personal 
actions. But the party which thus successfully guided 
the Ship of State through a voyage fraught with the perils 
of civil war lias ever remained the party of sound prin- 
ciples, patriotic purposes, and strong men, and events have 
demonstrated to the people that when they have given a 
verdict against the Republican party it has been to their 
sorrow. 

The events which led to the defeat of James G. Blaine 
in 1884 are still fresh in the minds of the people. Blaine 
had been a brilliant and aggressive leader, but, like all strong- 
men, he was as cordially hated by his enemies as he was 
ardently admired by his friends. Xo public man since 
Clay's time had attracted to himself such a strong and de- 
voted personal following. No public man ever better de- 
served such a following. 
25 



40»j THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

The campaign was full of incidents, and the election 
was finally determined by an exceedingly close vote in the 
state of New York, Cleveland's apparent plurality over 
Blaine being finally fixed at 1,047. The popular vote of 
the country for Cleveland and Hendricks was 4,911,017, 
for Elaine and Logan 4,848,334, for Butler and West, 
Greenback and Anti-Monopoly, 133,825, and for St. John 
and Daniel, Prohibition, 151,809. 

The Republican party retained control of the Senate 
and a busy people pursued the various courses of industry 
with no expectation of an undesirable change of policy. 
AVhile the Republican party, for the first time since 1860, 
had lost control of the executive department, it still held a 
controlling hand on legislation. 

An attempt was made by Morrison of Illinois in the 
Forty-eighth Congress to reduce the tariff, but he failed to 
rally his party to its support. In the Fiftieth Congress Mills 
of Texas made another attempt, and his measure passed the 
House, but was promptly rejected in the Senate. The tide 
was turned against the Democrats, and the Republicans 
came again into full control of the government, electing 
Benjamin Harrison of Indiana President, and Levi P. Mor- 
ton of Xew York Vice-President. Thomas B. Reed be- 
came Speaker of the House, and William Mdvinley the 
Republican leader on the floor. 

The result was the McKinlev law. What followed 
is well known. The Republican party had only to wait 
for the complete justification of its course and for the entire 
vindication of its doctrines. William McKinlev became 
the man of the hour. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND ITS 
HISTORY. 

Preliminaries to the Straggle far Independence — The Con- 
vention of 1765 — Articles of Confederation — The "Declara- 
tion of Rights " and other Papers — The Continental Congress 
— Work of the Committee of Five — The Beginning of the War 
— Minntemen — Washington's Statesmanship — Formation of 
the Constitution — Opposition to its Adoption — The Bulwark 
of the Repnhlic — Text of the Constitution — Views of the 
Statesmen Concerning it — Amendments and their History — 
How the Amendments were Ratified. 

IX the middle of the last century the acts of oppression 
on the part of Great Britain towards the American 
colonies became so numerous as to excite general indig- 
nation. Public meetings were held to denounce the con- 
duct of the mother country, organizations of " Sons of Lib- 
erty " were formed throughout the colonies, the popular 
sentiment was displayed in various ways, and when, on the 
first of Xovember, 1705, the odious Stamp Act was to take 
effect there were no officials bold enough to execute the 
laws. The stamps were seized and burned on their arrival, 
the distributors were openly insulted, and it was determined 
to celebrate the first of Xovember as a day of Humiliation. 
There was a general desire for united action among the 

colonies, and a convention or congress was proposed. Sev- 

(407) 



.;08 STORY OP THE CONSTITUTION. 

era] colonies appointed delegates, who met in New York on 
the Tth of October, 1TG5, and remained in session fourteen 
diivs. Their deliberations resulted in three ably-written 
documents in which were set forth the grievances of the 
colonists and the rights they claimed, together with a peti- 
tion that the king and parliament would redress the former 
and acknowledge the latter. The first paper was a Dec- 
laration of Rights, prepared by John Cruger of New York; 
the second, A Memorial to Both Houses of Parliament, 
by Robert II. Livingston of New York, and the third and 
last was A Petition to the King, by James Otis of Massa- 
chusetts. 

The government of Great Britain refused all application 
for a redress of the grievances of the colonies. Troops were 
sent to awe the people into subjection, and not only were 
the odious laws enforced, but additional ones were enacted. 
The assemblies of New York and Massachusetts refused 
shelter and food for the troops that were quartered upon 
them, and this led to open collisions; then followed many 
acts of insubordination, prominent among them being the 
famous " Boston Tea Party," and the consequent closing of 
the port when the act occurred. 

Another congress was summoned and met in Philadel- 
phia on the 5th of September, 1774. Tt was known as the 
First Continental Congress, and included delegates from all 
the colonies except Georgia. Again were the grievances of 
the people set forth, and with the same result as before. 
The Congress adjourned to meet on the 10th of the follow- 
ing May, and there was a universal feeling that if Great 
Britain continued stubborn war would be inevitable 1 . 

He fore Congress met again, pursuant to adjournment, 



STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 4()9 

it became known that the requests of the colonists had been 
refused, and preparations were made for the impending hos- 
tilities. Military companies and regiments were organ- 
ized, men were drilled in exercises with weapons of war; 
the manufacture of arms, ammunition, and military equip- 
ments was encouraged, and especially in the New England 
States the citizens were enrolled in companies prepared to 
go to the Held at a moment's warning. For this reason 
they were known as " minute-men "; their organization was 
encouraged by their wives and daughters, who assisted in 
the preparations. It is said that in Massachusetts alone 
thirty thousand men were ready to go to the held whenever 
wanted. 

The war came with all its horrors. The far-seeing 
leaders recognized the necessity of a unity of action among 
the colonies, and for this purpose Articles of Confedera- 
tion were prepared; the outline of these articles was sub- 
mitted to the Continental ( \mgress in duly, 1775, by Dr. 
Franklin, with the suggestion that they should cease to 
be in force as soon as there was a reconciliation between 
Great Britain and the colonics, but in the failure of such 
reconciliation their action should be perpetual. 

No decisive action was taken until the following year, 
when a declaration of independence became necessary. A 
committee was appointed by Congress to draw up such a 
declaration dune 11,1 T T < ». 

On the same day Congress resolved that a committee 
should be appointed, to consist of one delegate from each 
state, to draft and digest articles of confederation by which 
all the colonies should be bound and controlled during the 
period of war. The Declaration of Independence was 



410 STORY OP THE CONSTITUTION. 

adopted by Congress on the 4th of July, 1770. A draft 
of articles of confederation was reported on the 12th of 
July of the same year. 

The articles of confederation were discussed for a month 
or more, and were then laid aside until April, 1777. In 
the meantime several of the States had formed their con- 
stitutions and practically acknowledged Congress to be the 
supreme head of affairs in war, finance, etc. From April 
until November the articles were discussed, and on the 15th 
of the latter month they were adopted and submitted to 
the States for ratification. Some of the State legislatures 
made objections, and the final adoption did not take place 
until four years and four months after the draft had been 
submitted. These articles of confederation formed the 
basis of the Constitution of the United States, and remained 
in force until after the end of the Revolution, the signing 
of the treaty of peace, and the evacuation of the country by 
the British army. 

It was pi'oposed by some of the statesmen of that time 
that the articles of confederation should be continued and 
form the constitution of the nation. This was opposed on 
account of several glaring defects that had become mani- 
fest during the progress of the war. General Washington 
was one of the first to see the necessity of a new organiza- 
tion, and at his suggestion a convention was called for tin 1 
purpose of consulting on the best means of remedying the 
evil then existing. This convention assembled at Annapo- 
lis, Maryland, in September, 1786, but only live States, 
Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New 
Fork, had sent delegates. Owing to the small representa- 
tion, no action was taken beyond suggesting the appoint- 



STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 411 

meiit of delegates to a larger convention in the following 
year. 

The report was sent to Congress, and in February, 1787, 
that body passed a resolution recommending the legisla- 
tures to appoint delegates to a constitutional convention 
which should meet on the second Monday in May of that 
year. The proposal met with favor, and at the time desig- 
nated the convention assembled, all the States being repre- 
sented except Xew Hampshire and Rhode Island. Van ius 
plans were proposed, and after long and sometimes angry 
debates the convention referred all reports, propositions, and 
resolutions to a committee of five. Ten days later this com- 
mittee reported a rough draft of the National Constitution, 
the instrument by which the country should be governed 
for the future. 

More debates followed, and then the draft of the Con- 
stitution was referred to the various legislatures, with the 
request that it be submitted to a convention of delegates 
from all the States. It was vigorously supported by many 
of the great minds of the day, and as vigorously opposed by 
others. Eleven States assembled in the convention, and 
supported and ratified the new Constitution; Congress then 
iixed the time for choosing electors for President and Vice- 
President, and provided for the organization of the new 
government. The old Continental Congress expired on the 
fourth of March, 1780, and the national Constitution be- 
came the basi.s on which should rest the great republic of 
the western world. 

Thus was crowned the glorious work of the war for 
independence, and thus was begun the magnificent career 
of one of the foremost nations of the globe. 



412 STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION. 

We, Hie people of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, pro- 
vide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and 
secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do 
ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of 
America. 

Article I. 

Section 1. All the legislative powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of 
a Senate and House of Representatives. 

Sec. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of 
members chosen every second year by the people of the several 
States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications 
requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State 
Legislature. 

No person shall be a Representative who shall not have at- 
tained the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a 
citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an 
inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among 
the several states which may be included within this Union 
according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined 
by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those 
bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not 
taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration 
shall lie made within three years after the first meeting of the 
Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term 
of teli years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The 
number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
thousand: but each State shall have at least one Representative: 
and until such enumeration shall be made the State of New 
Hampshire Shall be entitled to choose three, .Massachusetts eight, 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one. Connecticut live. 
New York six. New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware 
one, Maryland six. Virginia ten, North Carolina live. South 
Carolina live, and Georgia three. 

When vacancies happen in the representation from any State. 
the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to till 
such vacancies. 



STORY OF Til 10 CONSTITUTION. 413 

The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and 
other officers; and shall bave the sole power of impeachment. 

See. 8. The Senate of the United States shall lie composed of 
two Senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, 
for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of 
the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into 
three classes. The seats of the Senators of the tirst class shall be 
vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at 
the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the ex- 
piration of the sixth year, so that one-third may he chosen every 
second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, 
during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive 
thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting 
of the legislature, which shall then till such vacancies. 

No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the 
age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United 
States, and who shall not, when elected, be tin inhabitant for that 
State for which he shall be chosen. 

The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of 
the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a presi- 
dent pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he 
shall exercise the office of President of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments; 
when sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath, or affirma- 
tion. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief 
Justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted without the 
concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further 
than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold anil enjoy 
any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States: but 
the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to 
indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law. 

Sec. 4. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for 
Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by 
the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any lime by law 
make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing 
Senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and 



414 STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION, 

such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless 
they shall by law appoint a different day. 

Sec. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, 
and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each 
shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number 
may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel 
the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under 
such penalties as each house may provide. 

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish 
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of 
two-thirds, expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from 
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their 
judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members 
of either house on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of 
those present, be entered on the journal. 

Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without 
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor 
to any other place than that in which the two houses may be 
sitting. 

Sec. 0. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a com- 
pensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out 
of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, ex- 
cept treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from 
arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective 
houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any 
speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in 
any other place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which 
he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority 
of the Tinted States, which shall have been created, or the emolu- 
ments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no 
person holding any office under the United States shall be a mem- 
ber of either house during his continuance in office. 

See. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in tin 1 
House of Representatives: but the Senate may propose or concur 
with amendments as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representa- 
tives and the Senate shall, before it becomes a law. be presented 
to the President of (lie United States: if he approve he shall sign 
it. but if not. he shall return it, with his objections, to that 



STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 415 

house iu which it shall have originated, which shall enter the 
objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. 
If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree 

to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the 
other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and it 
approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But 
in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by 
yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and 
against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each house 
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President 
within ten days (Sunday excepted) after it shall have been pre- 
sented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had 
Signed it, unless the Congress, by their adjournment, prevent its 
return, in which case it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on 
a question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of 
the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be 
approved by him. or, being disapproved by him. shall be repassed 
by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, accord- 
ing to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Sec. 8. The Congress shall have power — 

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; to pay 
the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare 
of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be 
uniform throughout the United States; 

To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the 
several States, and with the Indian tribes; 

To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform 
laws on the subject ofi bankruptcies throughout the United States; 

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, 
and tix the standard of weights and measures: 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities 
and current coin of the United States; 

To establish post-offices and post-roads; 

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing 
for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to 
their respective writings and discoveries; 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; 



410 STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

To defiiie and punish piracies and felonies committed on the 
high seas, and offenses against the law of nations; 

To declare war. grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make 
rules concerning captures on land and water; 

To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to 
that use shall be for a longer term than two years; 

To provide and maintain a navy; 

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land 
and naval forces; 

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of 
the Union, suppress insurrection, and repel invasions; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, 
and for governing such part of them as may lie employed in the 
service of the United States —reserving to the States, respectively, 
the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the 
militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; 

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over 
such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may. by cession 
of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the 
seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like 
authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legisla- 
ture of the State in which the same shall be. for the erection of 
foils, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful build- 
ings; — and 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carry- 
ing into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers 
vested by this Constitution in the government of the United 
States, or in any department or officer thereof. 

Sec. «.). The migration or importation of such persons as any of 
the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be 
prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such im- 
portation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus- 
pended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public 
^•i I'oty may require it. 

No bill of attainder <>r ex post facto law shall be passed. 

Xo capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in pro- 
portion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be 
taken. 



STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. (17 

No tas or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any 
State. 

No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or 
revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall 
vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to enter, cleat - , or 
pay duties in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in conse- 
quence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement 
and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money 
shall be published from time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; and 
no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall. 
without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolu- 
ment, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince. 
or foreign state. 

See. 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con- 
federation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit 
bills of credit; make anything but sold and silver coin a tender in 
payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or 
law impairing the obligation of contracts, or £rant any title of 
nobility. 

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any im- 
posts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be abso- 
lutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net 
produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or 
exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; 
and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the 
Congress. 

No State shall. Without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of 
tonnage, keep troops or ships-of-war in time of peace, enter into 
any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign 
power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such immi- 
nent danger as will not admit of delay. 

Article II. 

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President 
of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during 
the term of four years, and together with the Vice-President, 
chosen for the same term, be elected as follows: 

Each State shall appoint in such manner as the legislature 
thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole mini- 



418 STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

her of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be 
entitled in t lie Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or 
person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, 
shall be appointed an elector. 

(The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabi 
tant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a 
list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for 
each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to 
the seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the 
President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in 
the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all 
the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person 
having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; 
and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have 
an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall 
immediately choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no 
person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the 
said house shall in like manner choose the President. But in 
choosing the President the votes shall be taken by States — the 
representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of 
the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a 
choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the per- 
son having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be 
the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who 
have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the 
Vice-President.) 

'Plie Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, 
and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall 
be the same throughout the United States. 

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the 
United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall 
lie eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be 
eligible to that office who shall not have attained the age of 
thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the 
United States. 

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his 
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties 
of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, 



STOUV OF THE CONSTITUTION. 410 

and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, 
death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice- 
President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and 
such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, 
or a President shall be elected. 

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a 
compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished 
during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he 
shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the 
United States, or any of them. 

Pel'ore he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the 
following oath or affirmation : 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 
the office of President of the United States, and will to the best 
of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of 
the United States." 

Sec. 2. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the 
Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the 
several States, when called into the actual service of the United 
States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal 
officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject 
relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have 
power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the 
United States, except in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators 
present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other 
public ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, ami 
all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are 
not herein hitherto provided for, and which shall be established by 
law; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such 
inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the 
courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may 
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions 
which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

See. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress infor- 
mation of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consid- 
eration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient: 
he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either 



420 STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

of them, and in cast' of disagreement between tliem, with respect 
to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as 
he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other pub- 
lic Ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully exe- 
cuted, and shall commission all the officers of the United States. 

Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of 
the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment 
for. and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes or 
misdemeanors. 

Article III. 

Section 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be 
vested in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as the Con- 
gress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges 
both of the Supreme and inferior courts shall hold their offices 
during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their 
services a compensation which shall not be diminished during 
their continuance in office. 

Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and 
equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United 
States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their 
authority: to all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Minis- 
ters and Consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdic- 
tion; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party 
to controversies between two or more States; between a State anc 
citizen of another State; between citizens of different States 
between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants oi 
different States, and between a State or the citizens thereof, and; 
foreign States, citizens, or subjects. 

In all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers, and 
Consuls, those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme 
Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before 
mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, 
both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such reg- 
ulations as the Congress shall make. 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be 
by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said 
crimes shall have been committed: but when not committed within 
any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress 
may by law have directed. 

Sec. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in 



STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 421 

levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
them aid and comfort. 

No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testi- 
mony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in 
open court. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of 
treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, 
or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. 

Article IV. 

Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to 
the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other 
State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the man- 
ner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, 
and the effect thereof. 

Sec. 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privi- 
leges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other 
crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, 
shall on demand of the executive authority of the State from 
which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having 
jurisdiction of the crime. 

No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws 
thereof escaping to another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but 
shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service 
or labor may be due. 

Sec. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this 
Union: but no new State shall be formed or erected within the 
jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the 
junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the con- 
sent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the 
Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all 
needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other 
property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Con- 
stitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the 
United States, or of any particular State. 

Sec. 4. The Constitution shall guarantee to every State in the 
Union a Republican form of Government, and shall protect each 
of them against invasion; and on application of the Legislature, 
26 



422 STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

or of the executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) 
against domestic violence. 

Article V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem 
it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or. on 
the application of the Legislature of two-thirds of the several 
States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, 
in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of 
this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths 
of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, 
as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the 
Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior 
to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any 
manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of 
the first article; and that no State, without its consent, shall be 
deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 

Article VI. 

All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the 
adoption of this Constitution, shall be valid against the United 
States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which 
shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or 
which shall be made, under the authority of the United States. 
shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every 
State shall he bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws 
of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and 
judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several 
States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this 
Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a 
qualification to any office of public trust tinder the United States. 

Article VII. 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be 
suflieient for the establishment of this Constitution between the 
States so ratifying the same. 
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the States 



STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 



423 



present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of o»r 
Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, :m<l of the 
independence of the United States the twelfth. In witness 
whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

GEO. WASHINGTON. 
President and Deputy from Virginia. 






NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

John Langdon, 
Nicholas Oilman. 



MASSACHUSETTS. 

Nathaniel Gorham, 
Hufus King. 



CONNECTICUT. 

Win. Samuel Johnson, 
Roger Sherman. 

NEW YORK. 

Alexander Hamilton. 

NEW JERSEY. 

William Livingston, 
David Brearley, 
William Paterson, 
Jonathan Dayton. 
Attest : 



PENNSYLVANIA. 

Benjamin Franklin, 
Thomas Mifflin, 
Robert Morris, 
George Clymer, 

Thomas Fitzsimons, 
.Tared Ingersoll, 
James Wilson, 
Gouverneur Morris. 

DELAWARE. 

George Reed, 
Gunning Bedford, Jr., 
John Dickinson, 
Richard Basset t, 
Jacob Broom. 



VIRGINIA. 

John Blair, 
James Madison, Jr. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

William Blount, 
Rich'd Dobbs Spaight, 

Hugh Williamson. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Charles C. Pinckney, 
Charles Pinckney, 
John Rutledge, 
Pierce Butler. 

GEORGIA. 

William Few, 
Abraham Baldwin. 



MARYLAND. 

James M'Henry, 
Daniel of St. Thomas 

Jenifer, 
Daniel Carroll. 

William Jackson, Secretary. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

At the first session of the first Congress in New York. March. 
1770, many amendments to the National Constitution were pro- 
posed. Congress submitted ten of them to the legislatures of the 
States, and they were ratified, in accordance with the Fifth Article 
of the Constitution, by the end of 1791. The eleventh amendment 
was proposed in 1794. and ratified in 1798; the twelfth amend- 
ment was proposed in 1803, and ratified in the follow ins year. 

In 1810 Congress proposed an amendment prohibiting any 
citizen of the United States from receiving or accepting any title 



424 STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

of nobility or honor, or any present, pension, office, or emolument 
of any kind whatever, from any "person, king, prince, or foreign 
power," without the consent of Congress, under penalty of dis- 
franchisement or ceasing to be a citizen of the United States. 
This proposed amendment was never ratified. 

The thirteenth amendment was proposed by Congress in 1865, 
and ratified in the same year by the requisite number of States. 
The fourteenth amendment was proposed in 1866, and was in- 
tended to complete the work of the thirteenth. Two years later it 
had received the requisite number of votes in its favor to make 
it a part of the Constitution. 

The fifteenth amendment was submitted to the legislatures of 
the States by resolution of Congress in February, 1869, and ratified 
by the necessary number of States in the early part of 1870. One 
State, New Jersey, ratified it nearly a year after the proclamation 
of the Secretary of State announcing that it had become a part of 
the Constitution. 

AMENDMENTS. 

Article I. 
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the 
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a re- 
dress of grievances. 

Article II. 
A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a 
free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not 
be infringed. 

Article III. 

No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house, 
without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. 

Article IV. 
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses. 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. 
Shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon 
probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly 
describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be 
seized. 



STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 425 

Article V. 
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand 
jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; 
nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice 
put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any 
criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of 
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall 
private property be taken for public use without just compensa- 
tion. 

Article VI. 
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and 
district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which 
district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be 
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be eon- 
fronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory 
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the 
assistance of counsel for his defense. 

Article VII. 
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, 
and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any 
court of the United States, than according to the rules of the 
common law. 

Article VIII. 
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im- 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Article IX. 
The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
people. 

Article X. 
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitu- 
tion, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States 
respectively, or to the people. 



426 STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Article XI. 
The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed 
to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted 
against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or 
by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. 

Article XII. 
The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, 
shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; 
they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, 
and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and 
they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, 
and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number 
of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and 
transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United 
States, directed to the President of the Senate; — The President of 
the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be 
counted; — the person having the greatest number of votes for 
President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of 
the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have 
such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, 
not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, 
the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, 
the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be 
taken by States, the representation from each State having one 
vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or 
members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the 
States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of 
Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of 
choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March 
next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as 
in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the 
President. The person having the greatest number of votes as 
Vice-President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no 
person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the 
list the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the 
purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of 
Senators, and a majority of the number shall be necessary to a 



STORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 427 

choice. But no person constitutionally Ineligible to the office of 
President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United 

States. 

Article XIII. 

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except 
as a punishment lor crime, whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or in any place 
Subject to their jurisdiction. 

Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 

Article XIV. 

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State 
shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges 
or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any 
State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without clue 
process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the 
equal protection of the law. 

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the 
several States according to their respective numbers, counting the 
whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not 
taxed; but when the right to vote at any election for the choice of 
electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, 
Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of 
a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to 
any of the male inhabitants of such State (being twenty-one 
years of age and citizens of the United States), or in any way 
abridged except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the 
basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion 
which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole 
number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Con- 
gress, or Elector, or President, or Vice-President, or hold any 
office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any 
State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Con- 
gress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any 
State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State. 
to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have en- 
gaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid 



428 STOKY OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

or comfort to the enemies thereof; but Congress may, by a vote of 
two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. 

Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pen- 
sions and bounties, for services in suppressing insurrection or re- 
bellion, shall not be questioned; but neither the United States nor 
any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in 
aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any 
claim for the loss of or emancipation of any slave. But all such 
debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Sec. 5. Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate 
legislation, the provisions of this article. 

Article XV. 

Section 1. The right of the citizens of the United States to 
vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any 
State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article 
by appropriate legislation. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES — SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND ADMIN- 
ISTRATION. 

His Remarkable Modesty — Opposed to Slavery although a Slave- 
Holder — The Country Bordering on Anarchy — Quarrels be- 
tween the Federalists and Anti-Federalists — Not a Partisan 
Himself — His Virtues Derived from His Mother — Mount 
Vernon an Inheritance from His Brother — His Sense of 
Justice — Love of Truth and Personal Honor — Farewell Ad- 
dress to His Army — His Admirably Balanced Character — 
Washington's Cabinet — Welcomes His Retirement to Private 
Life. 

ALTHOUGH six years elapsed between the resigna- 
tion of George Washington as Commander-in- 
Chief of the continental army and his inauguration 
as first President of the United States, there was never any 
doubt in the minds of the mass of his fellow-countrymen 
that, whatever form the new executive office might take, 
he would be called upon to fill it. 

No American has ever been so distinctly the first citizen 
of his country, albeit he was at the time the central figure 
of a group of men more remarkable as a group, perhaps, 
than any the nation has since produced. His successors, 
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James 
Monroe, were his contemporaries, co-laborers, and friends 

(429) 



430 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

iii the difficult initial years of national life; and he had be- 
side, to aid in his cabinet counsels, men of such distin- 
guished ability as Alexander Hamilton of Xew York, Gen- 
eral Henry Knox of Massachusetts, and Edmund Randolph 
of Virginia. But the power which made Washington 
pre-eminently the leader, resulted from the extraordinary 
equipoise of the traits of his character. A better-balanced 
man has seldom been born; and everywhere, and under all. 
circumstances, this peculiar evenness made him superior in 
action to men whose purely intellectual qualities were 
greater than his. To his strength of character was prin- 
cipally due Washington's grand success; for he had no 
unusual advantages in his childhood and youth to open to 
him an easy road to fame. 

Born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, February 22, 
1 T-°»2, George was the second and younger son of Augustine 
Washington and Mary Ball, his second wife. Augustine 
Washington was a man of considerable landed property, as 
were most of the Virginia country gentlemen. As the 
laws of primogeniture were yet in force at that period, his 
elder son, Lawrence, received far more benefit from his 
father's means than did George, wdiose sole education was 
gained in the neighboring schools, consisting mainly of the 
three essentials, reading, writing, and arithmetic. To 
these, he himself contrived to add bookkeeping and sur- 
veying, for which he had a special aptitude, and which, 
later in life, served him in excellent stead. All the anec- 
dotes of his childhood and youth show that he early de- 
veloped the keen sense of justice, the high regard for truth 
and deep sense of personal honor which distinguished him 
until his death. As a lad, he was a noted athlete, a bold 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 4:'.:; 

and graceful rider, and did well whatever lie undertook. 
His father, Augustine Washington, died when George was 
nine years old, leaving the estate of Mount Vernon, on the 
Potomac river, to the elder son Lawrence. George, being 
a great favorite witli his elder brother, thereafter spent much 
of his time at Mount Vernon, so that his early, as well as 
his late, years are associated with the pleasant old home- 
stead. It was at one time intended that George should 
enter the navy; but, in deference to his mother's strong op- 
position, he gave up the idea, and devoted himself mosl 
earnestly to the study and practice of surveying, which he 
proposed to make his profession. 

It is declared that George Washington inherited from 
his mother — as many other great men are thought to have 
done — those qualities of mind and character which made 
him great. Mrs. Washington was a woman of vigorous in- 
tellect and indomitable will, with a strong sense of right and 
wrong, and a deep determination to make up in the training 
of her son George, so far as possible, for the early loss of 
his father. So well did she succeed in her efforts that, al- 
most before he had reached manhood, he was quite fitted 
to take a man's part in life. When George was barely 
nineteen, he received the appointment of adjutant, with 
the rank of major, in the military service of Virginia, 
which, in anticipation of the beginning of the French and 
Indian war, was mobilizing as rapidly as possible the troops 
at command. For a short time, he served with credit; 
but was soon compelled to resign, in order to accompany his 
brother Lawrence to Barbados in search of his swiftly- 
failing health. The trip failed of its purpose, and Law- 
rence returned to die at Mount Vernon in the following 



4.!4 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

year, 175:?. In the event of the death of his infant daugh- 
ter, which very shortly took place, Lawrence Washing- 
ton bequeathed Mount Vernon to his beloved brother 
George, and it was ever after his home and favorite resi- 
dence. 

At this juncture the difficulties of the French and 
Indian troubles became so great that Washington was en- 
trusted with a delicate mission to the French commander, 
which he performed with such skill, in the face of such 
clangers and disasters, that he became almost instantly fa- 
mous. Offered the colonelcy of a new regiment, he mod- 
estly declined it, accepting the lieutenant-colonelcy instead ; 
but, in consequence of the death of the colonel, he was 
soon after compelled to fill the position he had previously 
declined. He continued in the army, serving with abil- 
ity, though not always with success, for five years, until 
the fall of Fort Duquesne, and the expulsion of the 
French from the Ohio valley practically closed the war, 
and gave him an opportunity to resign with honor, in 
order to return to the country life he preferred. An- 
other fact, which doubtless influenced his decision more 
than he chose to admit, was that he had fallen in love 
with a charming widow, Mrs. Martha Onstis, to whom he 
was married — the marriage proved happy, but child- 
less — on January 17, 1759, in the twenty-seventh year 
of his age. Having been trained by his mother in ad- 
mirable habits of thrift and management, he had already 
been enabled to considerably increase the property left 
him by his father and his brother, and during the few 
years of his retirement at Mount Vernon, he increased it 
still further. Although a slaveholder, as were all the 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 435 

property owners of his day, he was sincerely opposed to 
the institution, neither bought nor sold slaves, and de- 
clared in his will that lie would gladly manumit all of 
his, but for the complications which would arise in con- 
nection with those inherited by liis wife, and which could 
not be freed until her death. So considerate a master 
was he that he abandoned the cultivation of tobacco, 
chiefly because lie believed it to be injurious to the hands 
who raised it. 

Washington was not one of those who early desired 
a rupture with England; but when convinced that the Col- 
onies could not get justice from the home government, he 
became an ardent patriot, and was appointed command- 
er-in-chief of the Revolutionary army on June 15, 1775, 
two months after the first shot had been fired at Con- 
cord. Probably no commander ever entered a war, con- 
ducted and conquered it, who was so ill prepared in every 
material way. His troops were inexperienced, ill clothed, 
ill fed, ill paid, if they chanced to be paid at all; he was 
himself unaccustomed to handle large bodies of troops, 
7ior had any of his assistant commanders greater expe- 
rience on which he might draw. He had to conduct his 
campaigns over a large area of country against an enemy 
superior in everything but pluck and principle. He had 
private enmity and public opposition to encounter; but he 
patiently, hopefully, and skillfully carried the conflict to 
a successful close. On December 23, 1783, he made a 
most beautiful parting address to his army, unbuckled his 
sword, and returned to his farming on the Potomac. 

For some years succeeding the close of the Revolu- 
tion, the United States were in a condition bordering on 



436 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

anarchy. The country experienced a strong sense of re- 
lief when a preliminary convention at Annapolis in 1787, 
assembled to consider the generally hopeless condition, 
called another and more important convention in the fol- 
lowing May at Philadelphia. It was at this convention 
that the Constitution of the United States was framed 
and adopted; and it was immediately after, that George 
Washington was elected President, and John Adams 
Vice-President of the then infant country. In view of 
the importance with which the vote of the State of New 
York has recently been regarded in presidential elections, 
it is a curious historical fact that New York was the only 
State that cast no vote at the first election of Washington. 
It was apparently from mere want of interest in the new 
constitutional government that New Y'ork neglected so 
important a duty. In Washington's first cabinet sat 
Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State; Alexander Ham- 
ilton as Secretary of the Treasury; Henry Knox as Sec- 
retary of War, and Edmund Randolph as Attorney-Gen- 
eral; and the administration opened with brilliant prom- 
ise. It was not long, however, before the interests of 
the Federalists and anti-Federalists began to clash in the 
persons of their leaders in the cabinet, — Hamilton and 
Knox on the former side, Jefferson and Randolph on the 
latter. President Washington carried himself with great 
tact between the opposing factions, although his personal 
leanings were slightly toward the Federalists; but they 
ultimately dismembered his cabinet, depriving him of the 
strong support he had relied upon, and toward the latter 
years of his second term despoiling him of much of his 
popularity. Washington had not desired a re-election, 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. |:',7 

and only consented to a second term at the most earnest 
solicitation of men whose advice lie felt bound to take. 
There can be no doubt that he welcomed the day of his 
permanent return to Mount Vernon. He lived three 
years after his retirement from the presidency, and died 
at Mount Vernon of an attack of acute laryngitis after 
twenty-four hours of illness, on December 14, 171)9, in 
the sixty-eighth year of his age. 



27 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

JOHN ADAMS, SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 

STATES. 

Not by any Means so popular as His Predecessor — Elected by 
Three Votes Only — The Country Beginning to be an Independ- 
ent Nation — Commencing Life as a School Teacher — His 
Wife a Remarkable Woman — Adams a Vigorous Speaker and 
Pointed Writer of Choleric Temper — Bitter Hostility between 
Parties — Employed on Delicate Missions — Extremely Active 
in Political Life — One of the First to see a Final Rupture 
with the Mother Country Inevitable. 

WIIEX John Adams, the second President, suc- 
ceeded Washington in the executive chair on 
March 4, 1797, he was by no means the unani- 
mous choice of the people his predecessor had been. Indeed, 
his election was secured by only three votes more than 
Thomas Jefferson, his most powerful rival of the op- 
position, received. As the custom then prevailed of the 
candidate receiving the second largest vote becoming 
Vice-President, Jefferson assumed that office, and the 
anomalous spectacle was presented of a President and 
Vice President of opposing political parties. During the 
eight years of Washington's administration, the United 
States had been gradually and surely taking on the char- 
acteristics of au independent nation, although a nation 
so young as not to have arranged its domestic economies, 

(438) 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 439 

or adjusted its foreign relations. As the sense of general 

security increased, factional and sectional differences were 
greatly augmented, because the leading men had then 
more time and attention to give to secondary matters. 
Therefore, although John Adams found an organized body 
politic where Washington found chaos, he also met inter- 
nal dissension, intense personal enmities, and European 
complications that rendered the presidency anything but 
desirable to any one who was not a strong man and a true 
patriot. Both of these Adams unquestionably was. 

Born in that portion of the old town of Braintree now 
known as Quince, Massachusetts, on the -30th of October, 
1735, he was the eldest son of John Adams, an estimable 
farmer of limited means. Possessed by the characteristic 
New England desire for education, the father did his besl 
for the son, who was graduated from Harvard College in 
1755. Like many who have become famous in the history 
of this country, he began his practical life, after leaving 
college, by teaching school, at Worcester, Massachusetts. 
[laving exceptional intellectual power and a lively ambi- 
tion, the atmosphere of a grammar school neither suited nor 
satisfied young John; and in the hope of opening a new 
path to fame and fortune, he began, while still teaching, 
the study of law. He had thought of becoming a clergy- 
man, but witnessing certain church quarrels in his native 
town, he was, to quote his own words, " terrified out of it." 
He would have been glad to enter the army, had he 
possessed the influence to secure a commission. 1 hat 
being out of the question, the law seemed his only resource, 
and he applied himself with such energy to it that in two 
vears he began to practice in Boston, at the Suffolk County 



440 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

Bar. Before very long he had built up a practice which, 
as he considered, justified him in marrying, and, accord- 
ingly, in 1764, he united himself with Abigail Smith, the 
(laughter of a prominent clergyman of Weymouth. This 
union, which at the time it took place promised to bring 
young Adams considerable worldly advantage, his wife's 
family connections being much more prominent and pros- 
perous than his own, proved in every way to be most for- 
tunate. Abigail Adams was one of the most remarkable 
women of the Revolutionary period. Her qualities so ad- 
mirably supplemented her husband's, and her nature so 
thoroughly assimilated with his that the marriage not only 
brought him personal happiness, but it enabled him to 
grasp all of the great opportunities which later crowded his 
life. Wherever and whenever his public duties rendered 
it necessary for him to neglect his private duties, his wife 
more than made good the neglect. With less of the wo- 
manly softness and charm of her successor in the White 
House, pretty Polly Madison, Abigail Adams had a 
strength of character and a vigor of mind that found full 
vent in the troublous times in which she lived. She was 
so true a helpmate that wherever his life is told, hers should 
not be omitted. 

The early shadows of the Revolution were beginning 
to fall when John Adams was married; and the agitation of 
the Stamp act called him to the political front in his native 
town, lie was appointed junior counsel with Jeremiah 
Gridley and James Otis, to present a memorial to the 
Governor and council, praying that the courts might con- 
duct their business without the use of stamps. From that 
time on, Adams was continually in public and political life 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 441 

until lie retired from the presidency in 1801. lie held 
many offices, beginning with that of Representative to 
the General court (legislature), ardently working with 
tongue and pen for what he believed to be the best good 
of the country. lie was a vigorous speaker, a terse and 
pointed, though not eloquent, writer, and being naturally 
somewhat pugnacious, he found plenty of occasion for the 
use of his best ability. 

As the difficulties with the mother country increased, 
and the future of the colonies became more uncertain, 
Adams was one of the first to conclude that a final rup- 
ture was inevitable; and as soon as he had come to this 
conclusion, threw himself with all the ardor and energy 
of his nature into the work of preparing the country for 
the impending conflict. It was mainly through his 
efforts that the important Congress of 1775, which sent 
a final petition for rights to King George III, also passed 
a bill to put the colonies in a state of defense, in the event 
of the threatened war. It was he also who perceived the 
importance of making Washington Commander-in-Chief, 
although he suggested it rather from the politic motive of 
binding the southern States to the interests of the Revolu- 
tion, than because he then regarded him as the greatest 
colonial General. About this time, some of his private let- 
ters, full of candid expressions concerning men and meas- 
ures, fell into hands for which they were not intended, and 
their publication caused considerable excitement, and 
roused some distrust of him, though not enough to compel 
him in any way to abandon his public career. Indeed, 
throughout his life, Adams' inclination to unwise letter- 
writing frequently got him into trouble, and finally sent 



442 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

him out of the presidential office under a peculiarly un- 
happy cloud. 

When the Revolution was finally entered upon, Adams 
and Jefferson were appointed a committee to draw up ar- 
ticles of war to govern the army; hut the principal labor of 
preparation fell upon Adams, as did also the work of get- 
ting the necessary legislation in Congress, the latter being 
by far the harder part. In spite of the impulsiveness of 
his acts and the frequent intemperance of his speech, 
Adams' opinion and advice were constantly in demand, 
and he was ever one of the foremost figures of that impor- 
tant period. His really clear head and integrity of pur- 
pose were always patent, and he was called upon to fill the 
most important positions. He was sent to Paris on the 
delicate mission of securing the alliance of France for the re- 
volting colonies; to England to treat for peace and negotiate 
a commercial treaty ; to Holland to raise a loan for the almost 
bankrupt States. His services in Europe were so impor- 
tant to his country that he was kept there in one and another 
capacity for fully ten years, closing his career there at 
last in the capacity of Minister to the Court of St. James. 
Almost immediately upon his return to America, he was 
elected Vice-President, and occupied that office for the 
two terms of Washington's presidency. 

During Adams' presidency, the antagonism between 
the Federal and anti-Federal parties became so intense, 
and party feeling ran so high that the President, an ardent 
Federalist, was led into many injudicious public acts that 
lessened the general confidence in his judgment, and, in 
connection with foreign complications, ultimately over- 
threw the party of which he was the distinguished head. 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 443 

After his second nomination, he was so thoroughly beaten 
by his chief antagonist, Thomas Jefferson, the leader of 
the anti-Federalists, that he quitted the capital in bitterness 
of spirit and deep disappointment before the newly-elected 
Executive was inaugurated. Although, to a certain ex- 
tent, Adams broughl his defeat distinctly upon himself, 
still he was largely justified in considering' that his country 
had made him a poor return for more than a quarter of a 
century's absolute self-devotion to its interests. He was 
as honest and true a patriot as a man could he; and united to 
a large mind a character, which, while it was not lovable, 
commanded always the highest esteem and respect. 

Adams lived twenty-five years longer in retirement at 
his home in Braintree, dying on the 4th of July, 1826, at 
the age of ninety, within an hour or two of the demise of 
his old friend and old rival, Thomas Jefferson. Both died 
on the fiftieth anniversary of American Independence. 
Within the last dozen years of their lives, the breach be- 
tween them, caused by Adams' final political overthrow, 
was healed, and they opened a correspondence which was 
to each a great consolation during their last inactive years. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THOMAS JEFFERSON, THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 

His Pride in the Authorship of the Declaration of Independence — 
The First Genuine Democrat — His Radical Revision of the 
Laws of Virginia — The Final Treaty of Peace — His Views 
Opposed to Hamilton's — Genest's Extraordinary Conduct as 
French Minister — Love of France and French Institutions — 
Jefferson and Aaron Burr Receive the Same Number of Votes 
for President — Simplification of Customs and Manners — 
His Dislike of Titles — His Personal Appearance and Delight- 
ful Companionship. 

THOMAS JEFFERSON, the third President, will 
be remembered in history as the author of the 
Declaration of Independence, when his presidency 
has been forgotten. He was much prouder of having writ- 
ten that immortal document than of having held any office, 
and desired that the fact should be inscribed on his tomb. 
"The Declaration is equal," says Edward Everett, "to 
anything ever born on parchment, or expressed in the vis- 
ible signs of thought." " The heart of Jefferson in writ- 
ing it," remarks George Bancroft, " beat for all human- 
ity. " Jefferson was born at Shadwell, Va., not far from 
Monticello, the place associated with his name and death, 
April 2, 1743, and was the oldest of eight children. His 
parents were Peter Jefferson, a man of great mental and 

(444; 



it '4 




LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 417 

physical strength, and Jane Randolph, of direct and dis- 
tinguished English descent. Thomas began at nine his 
classical studies, and, eight years after, entered an ad- 
vanced class at William and Mary College at Williams- 
burg, where he was noted for his diligence and proficiency 
in languages. Having studied law, he was admitted to the 
bar at twenty-four, and was so successful that he earned 
the first year about $3,000 — equivalent to five times the 
sum at the present time. He began his public career two 
years later, as a member of the House of Burgesses, where 
he had heard, while a student, Patrick Henry's great speech 
on the Stamp act, having formed his acquaintance when 
Henry was an insolvent shop-keeper. In 1773, he joined 
with Henry, and other patriots, in devising the famous Com- 
mittee of Correspondence and Inquiry for spreading intel- 
ligence between the colonies. Just before this, he had 
married Martha Skelton, a young and attractive widow, 
the daughter of a prominent lawyer. She had consider- 
able property in land and slaves, and as he also had a good 
patrimony, the united estate, added to his professional 
earnings, was qnite valuable. 

Elected in 1774 to a convention to choose delegates 
to the First Continental Congress at Philadelphia, he drew 
up for their instruction his renowned Summary View 
of the Rights of British America. This was rejected as 
too radical, but was afterwards issued by the House of Bur- 
gesses, and published in Great Britain, after some revision 
by Edmund Burke. On the 21st of June, 177."), he took 
a seat in the Continental Congress, and was conspicuous 
in that body on account of his intellectual attainments and 
political aewmen. He served on the most important com- 



448 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

mittees, and aided John Dickinson in preparing a declara- 
tion of the cause of the colonies taking up arms. As 
George HI rejected their final petition, and Thus destroyed 
all hope of an honorable adjustment of their grievances, 
Jefferson was made chairman of a committee, early in IT TO, 
to prepare a Declaration of Independence. It was unani- 
mously adopted -Inly 4th, and signed by every member 
present except John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, who be- 
lieved it to be premature. Several months later he re- 
signed his seat to take part in the discussions and examina- 
tions of the Virginia assembly. Having furnished a pre- 
amble to a State constitution previously adopted, he spent 
two years and a half in radically revising the laws of the 
commonwealth; procuring the repeal of the laws of en- 
tail, the abolition of primogeniture, and the restoration of 
the rights of conscience. He was persuaded that these and 
kindred reforms would destroy every fibre of ancient and 
future aristocracy. 

In June, 177'.», Jefferson succeeded Patrick Henry as 
Governor of Virginia, and retained the office for one term; 
declining a re-election on the ground that, at so critical a 
period, the community would have more faith in a mili- 
tary man. He had hardly retired from office when his 
estate at Elk Hill was laid waste by the British, and he and 
his family had a narrow escape from capture. Sent back 
to Congress in 1 7 s : > , he reported, as chairman of a com- 
mittee, the final treaty of peac< concluded at Paris, Sep- 
tember :'.. L783, — acknowledging the independence an- 
nounced in the declaration of 177<*>. A bill, establishing 
the presenl federal system of coinage as a substitute for the 
British system, he also proposed, and caused to be passed by 



LINKS OF THE PRESIDENTS. 449 

Congress. In May, 1 78 I, he was appointed Minister Plen- 
ipotentiary to negotiate, with Adams and Franklin, trea 
ties of commerce and amity with foreign powers, and the 
next year he succeeded Franklin as resident-minister at 
Paris. lie became very fond of France and of French in- 
stitutions, infinitely preferring them to those of England, 
and manifested his predilection ever afterward. His res- 
idence abroad was one of the happiest periods of his life. 
While there he published his Xotes on Virginia, refer- 
ring to commerce, politics, manufactures, etc., which at- 
tracted attention throughout Europe. He performed his 
diplomatic duties with marked ability; became intimate 
with D'Holbach, Condorcet D'Alembert, and other lib- 
eral minds; found leisure to travel in the provinces, Ger- 
many and Italy, and profited much by his opportunities and 
experiences. Having obtained permission to return home, 
lie quitted Paris in September, 1789, and reached Virginia 
soon after the election of Washington, who offered him the 
secretaryship of state, which he accepted. The federal 
Constitution, then recently adopted, he did not approve, 
because he thought there were as many bad as good things 
in it — an opinion he afterwards materially modified. 

During Washington's administration, the two great 
political parties of the country, the Republicans and Fed- 
eralists, respectively under the leadership of Jefferson and 
Alexander Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury, be- 
gan their vehement opposition. Jefferson passionately 
combated Hamilton's funding system, his national bank, 
and other financial measures, and earnestly advocated aid- 
ing France with our arms, when war had broken out be- 
tween her and Holland and England; Hamilton contend- 



450 LI VICS OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

ing, on the other hand, for a strict neutrality. The Re- 
publicans were disposed to tit out privateers in American 
ports, to cruise against English ships, while the Federalists 
denounced any such action as unjust, and as likely to in- 
volve us in war with a friendly nation. The President, 
who had just entered on his second term, warned, in a 
proclamation, the citizens of the United States against car- 
rying to the hostile powers articles contraband of war, or 
doing aught that would violate the neutrality laws. Jef- 
ferson favored receiving a minister from the French re- 
public, who was received in the person of Edward Genest, 
and was so cordially welcomed in some parts of the coun- 
try as a representative of the nation which had helped us 
to secure our freedom, that he tried to persuade the people 
here that they ought to do all they could for France. He 
fiercely abused the government for its want of sympathy, 
and even fitted out privateers from Charleston, and pro- 
jected hostile expeditions against Florida and Louisiana, 
then colonies of Spain. He armed a prize, and ordered her 
to sail as a privateer. Hamilton advocated the erection of 
a battery to prevent this, and denounced Genest as a man 
determined to embroil us with Great Britain. Jefferson 
declared the vessel would not sail; but she did sail, and the 
Federalists urged that the Frenchman should be ordered 
out of the country forthwith. It was finally determined 
that a requesl should be made for his recall, and he was 
recalled. Bui he decided to remain; he settled in the 
Slate of Xew York, was naturalized, and married a daugh- 
ter of George Clinton. These differences caused violent 
discussions in the cabinet, particularly between Jefferson 
ami Hamilton, who carried all his measures against his 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 451 

rival. Jefferson resigned his <>IHce December 31, 1793, 
and retired to Monticello. 

At the close of Washington's administration, Jefferson 
was, as lias been said, nominated for the presidency by the 
Republicans, against John Adams, nominated by the Fed- 
eralists. At the election Adams got the largesl number of 
Antes, and was declared President, and Jefferson, coming 
next, was, according to the then existing ride, the Vice- 
President. Accordingly he became President of the 
United States Senate. The administration was very stormy 
in consequence of disputes with France and other delicate 
and difficult questions. At the next general election, Jef- 
ferson and Adams were again candidates of their respect- 
ive parties, and the Republicans were victorious, though 
casting an equal number of votes — seventy-three — for 
Jefferson and Aaron Burr. This threw the election into 
the House of Representatives, which, on the thirty-sixth 
ballot, declared Jefferson President and Purr Vice-Pres- 
ident. They took their seats March 4, 1801, in Washing- 
ton, to which the capital had, a short time previous, been 
removed. Jefferson and his principles had triumphed at 
last, and he carefully refrained from doing anything to 
diminish his great popularity. The Federalists were 
treated with consideration, and they rapidly dwindled until 
few of them were left, and those few were the reverse of 
aggressive. Dress and manners became far more simple; 
the pompous dignity and ceremony of Washington's epoch 
disappeared, to give place to extreme simplicity, to which 
the new Executive had always strenuously inclined. The 
government bought Louisiana, which had been cvAcd by 
Spain to France, for $15,000,000, and the advantage of the 



452 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

purchase was great. Captains Lewis and Clark received 
instructions from Jefferson to explore the continent to the 
Pacific. Commodore Preble sustained the right of the na- 
tion in the Mediterranean against Morocco, and Decatur 
obliged Tripoli to sue tor peace after a most gallant exploit. 
These events augmented the popularity of Jefferson's ad- 
ministration, and contributed greatly to his re-election. The 
year following he was obliged to arrest Burr on a charge 
of treason, and he was blamed by the Federalists for his ap- 
parent anxiety to procure his conviction. International 
questions about the loss of foreign trade, Napoleon's block- 
ading European ports, and the right of search caused much 
commotion during the President's second term; but it was 
materially abated when he retired from office, and closed 
his political life. The next seventeen years he spent tran- 
quilly at Monticello, looking after the interests of his large 
plantation, receiving his friends and admirers, and found- 
ing, near ( 'harlottesville, the Central College, now known as 
the University of Virginia. Several years before his death, 
he became embarrassed by his exceeding generosity, espe- 
cially in the way of indiscriminate hospitality. He 
breathed his last July 4th, in his eighty-fourth year, his mind 
and all his faculties remaining clear to the end. 

No American, unless it be Washington, has exercised 
a greater or more endearing influence on his country and 
countrymen, lie was an original thinker, a thorough re- 
former, and a genuine democrat. In theology, he was 
what i> styled a deist; in politics, he was inimical to strong 
government, always maintaining that the world was gov- 
erned in excess. lie believed implicitly in State rights 
and the power and wisdom of the people. His life-long re- 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 453 

pugnance to Hamilton arose from the conviction that he 
favored a monarchy in the United States. Many of his polit- 
ical views were moderated as he grew older, but socially be 
was an uncompromising and unvarying democrat. He dis- 
relished all titles of honor, objecting even to the common 
though meaningless " ^Ir.'\ While he never made a formal 
public speech, lie was an expert politician, and a mas- 
terly manager of men and shaper of events. lie regarded 
slavery as a positive evil, morally and politically, though lie 
did not favor any change in the agricultural system of the 
southern States. He was a devoted husband, a tender fa- 
ther, a gentle master, and a warm-hearted friend. He was 
more than six feet high : he had a muscular, well-knit frame, 
a pleasant face with a fair ruddy complexion, light hazel 
eyes and reddish hair. His voiee was agreeable, his conver- 
sation intellectual, fresh, and eloquent, and his companion- 
ship delightful. His reputation has not heen impaired, but 
rather increased in the seventy years that have passed since 
his death, and ho will always be honored as one of the ablest 
and noblest of the fathers of the Republic. 



CHAPTER XL. 

JAMES MADISON, JAMES MONROE, AND JOHN QUINCY 
ADAMS. FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SINTH PRESIDENTS 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Conciliatory Character of Madison's Administration — His Opin- 
ions on the Federal Government — His Charming Wife — 
Decline and Death of Federalism — Monroe's Election Almost 
Unanimous — His Gallant Service in the Field — Wounded at 
Trenton — The Era of Good Feeling — Monroe's Views of 
Coercion — Bitter Disputes with Great Britain Leading to the 
War of 1812 — The Fifth President's Successful Efforts to 
Restore the Public Credit — He Dies Involved in Debt — 
Adams' Early Advantages and Experiences — His Honorable 
and Distinguished Career in the House. 

JAMES MADISON. 

THE Madisons wore among the first emigrants from 
(Ireat Britain to the colonies, having disembarked 
on the shores of ( Ihesapeake Bay very soon after the 
settlement of Jamestown. Tames Madison, the fourth Pres- 
ident, the son of Eleanor Conway and James Madison, of 
Orange county, Ya., a prosperous planter of high stand- 
ing, was horn March 1 6, 1751, on the paternal estate, named 
Montpelier, and was the eldest of seven children. He was 
sent, after a preliminary education, to Princeton, ~N. J., 
where he was graduated at twenty, though he remained 

there another year to pursue a course of general reading 

(454) 



I - 



r — 
O 




LINES OF THE PRESIDENTS. |/,7 

under the direction of the president of the college Hi-, 
application to books was so close as to impair his health, 
which continued delicate through life. After returning 

home he studied law, combining' it with other studies, the- 
ology, philosophy, and literature in particular, thus en- 
riching a naturally line mind, lie appears to have had a 
strong leaning to orthodoxy — an inclination of the time 
— and to have been deeply interested in discovering, so 
far as possible, the evidences of Christianity. lie mighl 
have passed years in such grateful occupations, had he not 
been gradually drawn into public affairs. At twenty-five 
he was chosen a member of the Virginia convention, but 
was defeated the year following, because he refused to 
" treat " the voters, — treating was then a universal cus- 
tom in the commonwealth, — and because he showed no ora 
torical powers. In 1779 he was elected to the general Con- 
gress, and retained his seat for three years, strongly op- 
posing the issue of paper money by the States. 

From that time he became a most conspicuous figure 
in political events; lie was re-elected in 1786, and was also 
a member the next year of the national convention, which 
met at Philadelphia to frame the Constitution of the United 
States. He warmly advocated its adoption in debate, and 
by a series of essays, afterward published in the " Federal- 
ist," the joint production of Madison, Hamilton, and Jay. 
He was a member of the Virginia Convention, which, in 
1788, after a passionate discussion, adopted the federal Con- 
stitution by a small majority. The year following he entered 
Congress, taking sides with the Republicans in opposition 
to the political views of Washington, and the financial meas- 
ures of Hamilton. He was not a partisan, however; his 
28 



458 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

words and acts were moderate, all his efforts being directed 
toward the reconciliation of party leaders. Much attached 
to Washington and Hamilton, he disliked exceedingly to 
differ from them; but he was so amiable and kind-hearted 
that their differences never affected his personal feelings. 
His views concerning the federal government are preserved 
in the autograph of Washington, which contains the sub- 
stance of a Utter written to him by Madison, adverse to a 
plan of complete centralization. He is equally opposed to 
the " individual independence of the States," and to the 
" consolidation of the whole into one simple republic.'"' 
But he favored giving to Congress the power to exercise a 
negative in all cases whatever on the legislative acts of the 
States, as heretofore exercised by the kingly prerogative. 
He believes that " the right of coercion should be expressly 
declared; but the difficulty and awkwardness of operating 
by force on the collective will of a State renders it particu- 
larly desirable that the necessity of it should be precluded." 
He afterwards materially altered these views, though he 
cherished and expressed them earnestly in the Philadelphia 
convention. 

At forty-three he married Mrs. Dorothy Todd, a Vir- 
ginian, lovely, amiable, and accomplished, the widow of a 
Philadelphia lawyer. She was constantly spoken of as the 
fascinating Dolly Madison. Their wedded life was entire- 
ly harmonious; but they had no children, ft is generally 
supposed that eminent men desire sons, at least, to perpet- 
uate their name and fame, though the sons of eminent men 
seldom distinguish themselves. The early Presidents were 
not fortunate in this. Washington was childless; so was 
Madison and Jackson, and Jefferson had two daughters only. 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 459 

At forty-two he declined the secretaryship of state, va- 
cated by Jefferson, but remained in Congress until he was 
forty -six. He was adverse to the Alien and Sedition laws, 
and he wrote the resolutions of 1798, as they were called, 
inveighing against all attempts to augment the power of the 
federal government by strained constructions of general 
elauses of the Constitution. Appointed Secretary of State 
by Jefferson in 1801, he filled the office for eight years in 
a manner entirely acceptable to his fellow-citizens. In 
1808 he was made President, receiving one hundred and 
twenty-two out of one hundred and seventy-five electoral 
votes; the Federal candidate, Charles C. Pincknev, receiving 
forty-seven. During his first term, the country had num- 
berless acrimonious disputes with Great Britain on account, 
of her impressing American seamen, searching American 
vessels for deserters, and injuring the national commerce by 
orders in council. As no redress could be had, these con- 
tinued outrages led to a declaration of war on our part — 
the war of 1812, as it is commonly called. In the autumn 
of the same year, Madison was re-elected against De Witt 
Clinton, getting one hundred and twenty-eight electoral 
votes from the slave States, added to Vermont, Pennsylva- 
nia, and Ohio. The war, very unpopular in many quarters, 
was continued for two years and seven months, when a 
treatv of peace was signed at Client. Commodore Perry 
gained a naval victory on Lake Erie; a small British force as- 
cended the Chesapeake, and by a sudden movement burned 
Washington: the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane 
Avere fought in Canada, and Jackson won the memorable 
victory at New Orleans, January 8, 1815 — the news of the 
peace not having then reached these shores. On the 4th 



4(30 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 

of March, I s IT, lie retired from public life, to Montpelier, 
where he died in bis eighty-sixth year. His last appear- 
ance in public was in the Virginia convention, assembled 
in 1829, to reform the old Constitution. lie was quite 
feeble then; he was dressed in black, his thin, gray hair still 
powdered, and lie spoke in so low T a tone that the members 
were obliged to leave their seats and stand near him to hear 
his words. 

Not possessed of the orator's gift, he was yet an effective 
speaker through his honesty, simplicity, and directness, and 
wielded great influence in debate. Tie was universally es- 
teemed and loved; his manners were always gentle and win- 
ning; his reputation was without a spot. 

JAMES MONROE. 

Like all his predecessors, James Monroe belonged to the 
aristocratic class of Virginia, the well-educated, highly-con- 
nected, refined, and prosperous. He was born on his fa- 
ther's plantation in Westmoreland county, Va., April 28, 
1758, being descended <m the paternal side from an officer 
in the army of Charles I. He was educated at William and 
Mary College, but bad been there only two years, when the 
adoption of the Declaration of Independence so tired his 
sotd that he determined to join our feeble militia against 
the trained soldiers of England. He went to Washington's 
headquarters in New York, and enrolled himself as a cadet. 
Our ill-fed, ill-clothed troops were disheartened, and th" 
Tories were very arrogant, as defeat followed defeat to the 
Continental cause. Young Monroe was as chivalrous as 
he was patriotic; bo fought heroically; was active as a liou- 
t( nan! in the campaign on the Hudson; was wounded in the 



LINKS OF THE PRESIDENTS. 401 

attack "u Trenton, and made a captain for his gallantry. 
As aide to Lord Stirling with the rank of major, he dis- 
tinguished himself at Brandywine, Germantown, and Mon- 
mouth. 

Thus losing his rank in the regular line, and unable to 
re-enter the army as a commissioned officer, he went back 
to Virginia, and began studying law under Thomas Jeffer- 
son, then Governor of the State. After the British had 
invaded Virginia, he did what he could to organize the mili- 
tia of the lower counties, and when they moved southward, 
he was sent as military commissioner to South Carolina. In 
1782 he was elected to the Assembly of Virginia, and was 
made a member of the Executive council at twenty-three. 
Having been chosen delegate to Congress, and being per- 
suaded that the country could not he governed under the 
old articles of confederation, he favored an extension of the 
powers of the body, and proposed, later, that it should have 
authority to regulate trade between the States. This led 
to the convention at Annapolis, and afterward to the adop- 
tion of the federal Constitution. Monroe formed an in- 
genious plan for settling the public lands, and was a valua- 
ble member of the commission to determine the boundary 
between Massachusetts and New York. 

At twenty-seven lie married the daughter of Lawrence 
Kortright of New York, a noted belle and social leader, and 
settled at Fredericksburg, Ya. As a member of the con- 
vention of Virginia in L788, he was against the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, because it gave, as he thought, 
too much power to the general government. His course 
.placed him in the ranks of the Republicans who were in- 
strumental in sending him for four years to the national 



402 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 

Senate. In 171)4 he was appointed Minister to France, but 
having offended the native government by his open sympa- 
thy with the French Republicans, he was recalled after two 
years. After having been Governor of Virginia for three 
years, he went to France as envoy-extraordinary to unite 
with the resident Minister, Edward Livingston, in arrang- 
ing for the purchase of Louisiana, which embraced the en- 
tire valley of the Mississippi, and which was sold by Bona- 
parte for $15,000,000. After performing other diplomatic 
missions abroad, he returned home in 1808, and spent two 
years in retirement. In 1811, he was again chosen Governor 
of Virginia. The same year he was appointed Secretary of 
State by President Madison, and after the capture of Wash- 
ington, he took the head of the War department, without 
resigning his former office. He labored long and success- 
fully to restore the public credit, and improve the condition 
of the army, pledging his private fortune to the former end. 
He continued to act as Secretary of the Treasury until the 
close of Madison's administration; he was the President's 
private adviser in many things, and was then chosen as his 
successor by the party who called themselves Democratic 
Republicans. Soon after he traveled through the Eastern 
;i nd Middle States, in the undress uniform of a Continental 
officer, inspecting arsenals, fortifications, garrisons, review- 
ing troops, and closely studying the military capability of 
the country. He was much liked personally and politi- 
cally; party rancor, which had been so tierce, was almost 
extinguished, and the time was spoken of as the Era of 
Good Feeling. During his first term, Maine, Illinois, and 
Mississippi were admitted into the Union; a convention was 
concluded between this country and England concerning 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 463 

the Newfoundland fisheries, and other matters of impor- 
tance, and East and West Florida, with the adjacent islands, 
was eedi'd by Spain to the United States. 

In L820, Monroe was re-elected almost unanimously, the 
Federal party having become extinct. The next year Mis- 
souri was taken into the Union after a long and ex- 
citing debate, resulting in the famous Missouri ( lompromise, 
by which slavery was allowed in that State, hut forever 
prohibited elsewhere, north of the parallel 36 degrees :>i> 
minutes. What is now known as the Monroe Doctrine 
was announced in his message of December 2, 1823, on 
the policy of our not interfering with the affairs of Europe, 
and not allowing Europe to interfere with those of the 
Western Continent. lie said that any attempt on tin 1 part 
of the Old World States to extend their system to any por- 
tion of this hemisphere would be regarded by us as dan- 
gerous to our peace and safety, and would be strenuously 
resisted. At the close of his administration lie retired to 
Oak Hill, Loudon County, Virginia, lie was afterward 
made a Justice of the Peace, and at seventy-one became a 
member of the Virginia convention to revise the old con- 
stitution. He was chosen to preside over that body; but ill 
health prevented, and lie went back to Oak Hill. In liis 
last years he was troubled with 'debt, notwithstanding that 
he had received for his public services more than $350,000. 
His wife died before him, and then he removed to New 
York, to the residence of his son-in-law, Samuel L. < rouver- 
neur, where he expired at the age id' seventy-three. He 
was singularly discreet, single-minded, and patriotic, and 
did more than any of his predecessors to develop the re- 
sources of the republic. He was tall, well-proportioned, 



4i)i LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

of fair complexion and blue eyes, and his face was a re- 
jection of his pure and benevolent nature. 

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 

John Quincy Adams is the only instance in the Repub- 
lic of a son succeeding his father as President; he being' the 
sixth and John Adams the second. As the eldest son, he 
had rare and exceptional opportunities for education. In 
childhood he was taught by his mother, a grand-daughter 
of ( !ol. John Quincy, and a woman of superior mind. When 
but eleven, he went to France with his father, and attended 
school in Paris, making much progress in the native 
language and other studies. Two years later, he again 
accompanied his father to Europe, and took a course at the 
University of Leyden. At fourteen, he was appointed 
private secretary to Francis Dana, Minister to Russia, 
remained fourteen months in St. Petersburg, and then 
traveled leisurely through Scandinavia and Denmark to 
Holland, where he resinned his studies at the Hague. Ho 
came home to finish his education and was graduated at 
Harvard in his twenty-first year. Admitted to the bar in 
1791, he began to practice in Boston. His first publica- 
tions were a number of essays in journals of that city, point- 
in- out the whimsevs and sophistries of radical French poli- 
ticians, and declaring that the country should be strictly 
neutral in the war between France and England. They at- 
tracted wide attention, and commended him to Washing- 
ton, who appointed him Minister to Holland in 1794, hav- 
ing formed a most elevated opinion of his character and ca- 
pacities. At thirty, he espoused Louisa Catherine John- 
son, a daughter of Joshua Johnson of Maryland, then Con- 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 165 

sul at London. He was elected to the United States Sen- 
ate for the term beginning March, 1803, and two years 
after was appointed professor of rhetoric and belles-lettres 
at Harvard, accepting the place only on condition thai hej 
should perform his senatorial duties while Congress was in 
session. He offended the Federalists, with whom he had 
been allied, by sustaining Jefferson's embargo act, and Erom 
that cause went over to the Democrats, or National Repub- 
licans, as they preferred to call themselves. He resigned 
his seat in the Senate, being unwilling to obey the will of 
the Federalists, then in the majority in Massachusetts, and 
lingered them greatly by accusing some of their leaders of 
having formed a plot to dissolve the Union, and set up a 
Northern Confederacy. This accusation is thought to have 
been one of the most potent causes of the enmity and sus- 
picion so long cherished toward Xew England by the south- 
ern and other States. 

Adams became conspicuous in the Senate as an able de- 
bater and a finished scholar, and in 1809 was sent by Madi- 
son to Russia, where be originated the friendly feeling 
which has ever since been maintained between that power 
and our own. In 1813, he was one of the commissioners 
to negotiate a treaty with Great Britain at Client, and per- 
formed bis part with signal ability. Going to England in 
a ministerial capacity in 1815, be stayed there for two years, 
when be returned to fill the office of Secretary of State, 
under Monroe. He discharged its duties as satisfactorily 
as lie bad those of diplomacy. In 1824, Adams, Jackson. 
Crawford, and Clay, all substantially having the same poli- 
tics, that of the Democrats, were candidates for the Presi- 
dency. Adams received eightv-fonr electoral votes. Jack- 



400 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 

son ninety nine, Crawford forty-one, and Clay thirty-seven, 
which rendered it necessary for the House of Representa- 
tives to decide the question, (day threw all his influence 
in favor of Adams, and secured his choice. As the Pres- 
ident appointed (day Secretary of State, -Jackson and his 
supporters charged the Kentuckian with corrupt motives, 
and imputed to the President a lack of integrity. Although 
there is no good reason for believing those charges, thev 
probably had much weight in defeating him for a second 
term, when lie received only eighty-three votes out of 
two hundred and sixty-one. Adams favored internal im- 
provements, the protection of home manufactures, and was 
principled against removing men from office merely for 
difference of political views. March 4, 1829, he retire* 1 
to Quincy, Mass., formerly called Braintree, where he had 
been born, July 11, 1707, nearly sixty-two years before. 
The next year he was sent to Congress, to the surprise of 
everybody, because previous Presidents had never been will- 
ing to return to Washington in any political capacity. lie 
continued in the House of Representatives for seventeen 
years, showing more ability and gaining more reputation 
than ever before. He was generally regarded as a model 
legislator, no one surpassing him in application and powers 
of endurance, not to speak of talents and learning. While 
he generally sided with the Whigs, he was independent in 
bis opinions and conduct. Tie won most renown by his 
defense of the right of petition and his unyielding opposi- 
tion to what, be denounced as the constant encroachment-- 
of the slave power. Although the House bad adopted ;i 
rule that no petition bearing on slavery should be read, 
printed, or debated, Adams persisted in presenting such 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 4(J7 

petitions, one by one, sometimes to the number of two hun- 
dred in a day, and demanding action on each separate peti- 
tion. The most violent anger, menace, and abuse from the 
Southerners never moved him from his conscientious course, 
and his coolness, under the circumstances, only added to 
and intensified their vituperative wrath. He died at his 
post of an attack of paralysis, February 23, 1848, aged 
eighty, his last words being, " I am content." 

John Quincy Adams was more scholarly than his fa- 
ther, hut not his equal in native force of intellect. He 
wrote fluently and copiously, but his style was verbose and 
inflated, wholly inferior to John Adams's simple, strong, 
idiomatic English. They were Unitarians; they resembled 
one another in appearance as well as in energy, firmness, 
and unwavering courage, and both had passionate tempers 
and hot prejudices. They were eminently representatives 
of New England, and despite their faults, many though not 
grievous, they were of sturdy stuff, and an honor to Ameri- 
can history. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

ANDREW JACKSON, MARTIN VAN BUREN. AND WM. 
HENRY HARRISON. SEVENTH, EIGHTH, AND NINTH 
PRESIDENTS OP THE UNITED STATES. 

Jackson the First Unmixed Democrat — His Election Regarded in 
Virginia and Massachusetts with Surprise and Disgust — His 
Uncouth and Untaught Youth — His Chivalrous Delicacy 
toward Women — His Morbid Sensibility about His Wife's 
Reputation — His Combats with Indians — Various Recounters 
and Duels — The Hermitage — The Seminole War — Battle of 
New Orleans — His Determination to Hang the Nullitiers — 
Honest. Single-minded, :md Patriotic — Van Buren as Demo- 
crat and Free-soiler — His Contented Old Age — Harrison as 
an Indian Fighter — The Log Cabin Campaign. 

ANDREW JACKSON. 

A GREATER difference than that between Andrew 
Jackson and his presidential predecessors cannot 
well lie conceived. Washington, Jefferson, Madi- 
son, Monroe, and the Adamses, had all been men of educa- 
tion, refinement, breeding, accustomed to good society and 
polite usages. Jackson was an illiterate, untrained, rustic, 
violent man, whose life, spent in a semi-civilized region, 
had been marked by savage persona] combats and many dis- 
graceful scenes. His choice as Chief Executive denotes 
a new era in politics, and a great change in public sentiment. 

It h easy to understand with what surprise, pain, and dis- 

(468) 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 471 

gust the gentlemen of Virginia and Massachusetts, the two 
States that exercised the mosl influence ob the young re- 
public, must have 1 regarded the election to the Presi- 
dency of a military chieftain, backwoodsman, cock-fighter, 
and tyrant, who had never shown respect for law, or recog- 
nized any authority but his despotic will. Jackson was 
indeed, the first unmixed Democrat, politically and socially, 
that had been placed in the highest position of trust and 
power. It was the beginning of an epoch, which opened 
a new volume of the national history. 

Andrew Jackson, the seventh President, was of Scotch- 
Irish extraction, was born in what was known as the Wax- 
haw settlement, 1ST. C, so near the line that he always sup- 
posed himself a native of South Carolina. He bore the full 
name of his father, a very poor man, who came to this 
country in 1765, and never struggled out of penury. His 
mother, Elizabeth Hutchinson, of very humble origin, 
brought him into the world some days after his father's 
death, under very hard and most depressing circumstances. 
He w r as the youngest of three boys, whom their mother 
reared as best she could, in a common cabin in which she 
lived with her brother-in-law, doing the hard work of the 
house, while his wife, her sister, was incapacitated from la- 
bor by permanent invalidism. Andrew, or Andy, as he 
was commonly called, greatly loved and revered his 
mother, who died when he was a youth, leaving him literally 
alone in the world, and a very hard part of the world in 
those clays, with the Waxhaw settlement. He mourned 
her deeply, and in after life often referred tenderly to her 
virtues. One of his best traits was his inherent and unvary- 
ing respect for women, toward whom he ever conducted 



472 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

himself with chivalrous delicacy, not to be expected in a 
man of such antecedents, and of so impetuous and turbulent 
a disposition. He grew up wild, homely, awkward, pro- 
fane, quarrelsome, overbearing, fond of physical exercise, 
and with no more instruction than enabled him to read, 
write a very indifferent hand — he never learned to spell, 
— and master rudimentary arithmetic. 

Jackson was only fourteen when he first fought against 
the British. His elder brother Hugh had already died of 
heat and exhaustion at the battle of Stono, having gone forth 
in a company of volunteers to attack Tarleton. Andrew 
and Robert, his other brother, were zealous ^Yhigs, and hav- 
ing been taken prisoners by the enemy, were both seriously 
wounded by a brutal English officer, whose boots they had 
refused to clean. They caught the small-pox while in cap- 
tivity, and were exchanged by the exertions of their mother, 
who took them home, where Robert died of the disease. 
She soon after went to Charleston, to take care of the sick 
and wounded Americans, and fell a victim to ship-fever. 
Andrew, compelled literally to earn his bread, worked in a 
saddler's shop, and taught school, which must have been of 
a queer sort, if he could teach it. At seventeen he begun 
the study of law at Salisbury, !ST. C, but was more interested 
in cock-fighting, horse-racing, card-playing, and all rude 
snorts, than in his studies. He was called a very hard case, 
though he had many redeeming traits, chief among them 
being hatred of oppression and love of justice. At twenty, 
he was licensed to practice, and the next year was appointed 
public prosecutor of the western district of the State, now 
Tennessee. He went to Nashville immediately, and en- 
tered upon his duties, gaining many clients, and serving 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 47o 

them faithfully. That was a wild region then, and his con- 
stant travel was done at the risk of his life. But he feared 
neither Indians nor anything else, and he had bo many nar- 
row escapes that his rude neighbors thought him danger- 
proof. 

At twenty-four he took for wife Mrs. Rachel Robards, 
daughter of Col. John Donelson of Virginia, one of the 
pioneers of Tennessee, after whom was named Fort Donel- 
son, captured by General Grant the second year of the ( !ivil 
war. Mrs. Robards and her first husband were boarding 
with Mrs. Donelson, then a widow, when Jackson reached 
Tennessee, and became a boarder under the same roof. 
Mrs. Robards was, in a frontier way, vivacious and sportive, 
a rattling talker and a fine rider. Her husband, suspicious 
and morose, was very jealous of her, and made her very un- 
happy. Jackson was fond of her society, though he in no 
manner passed the boundaries of the most conventional de- 
corum. Her husband believed, or pretended to believe, 
that he was his wife's lover, and applied to the Virginia 
legislature for an act preliminary to divorce. Jackson 
and Mrs. Robards supposed the act itself a divorce, and 
they were married two years before the divorce had been al- 
lowed. This innocent mistake (they were married again 
when it was discovered ) was the source of endless annoy- 
ance and sorrow to the second husband, who, to the day 
of his death, was so sensitive and fiery on the subject that, 
if any man hinted at any impropriety in their relations, he 
was certain to be called to account by Jackson, pistol in 
hand. Indeed, he was little less than a monomaniac in re- 
gard to his wife. Several of his most savage conflicts grew 
directly, or indirectly, out of what he believed or imagined 



474 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

to be reflections on her fair fame. If ever a man was con- 
nubially mad, that man was Andrew Jackson. Mrs. Rob- 
ards was an honest and worthy, though an uneducated and 
very ordinary sort of woman; but he fancied her to be a 
goddess, an angel, a saint, a creature entirely apart and 
above humanity, and he wanted to kill anybody who dared 
express any other opinion. His jealous disposition kept 
him alert for the slightest insinuation against her. 

Much of Jackson's early life in Tennessee was spent in 
fighting Indians and his private enemies, of whom he always 
had a host. He was one of the most irascible and pugna- 
cious of mortals, and his ire, aroused by the slightest cause, 
was deadly. Possessed of many generous and noble qual- 
ities, he was often in his resentments no better than a bar- 
barian. "When he was one of the judges of the supreme 
court of Tennessee, John Sevier was governor. They had 
quarreled, and Jackson had challenged the governor, who 
had declined the challenge. Still on bad terms, they met 
one day in the streets of Knoxville, and after exchanging a 
few words, Sevier made some slighting allusion to Mrs. 
Jackson. Her husband roared out, " Do you dare, villain, 
to mention her sacred name I " And whipping out a pistol, 
fired at the governor, who returned the shot. They tired 
again, ineffectually, and then bystanders interfered. Not 
long after, they encountered one another on horseback on 
the road, each accompanied by a friend. Again they shot, 
at one another, the friends taking part, and murder would 
have been done, had not some travelers, who had chanced to 
come up, separated the combatants. Jackson had the repu- 
tation of being a dead shot; but he frequently missed his 
man, owing doubtless to the excitement of the occasion. 



LIVES OF THE ['RESIDENTS. 475 

A friend of Jackson, William Carroll, having chal- 
lenged Jesse Benton, a younger brother of Thomas II. Den- 
ton, Jackson was induced to act as his second. The prin- 
cipals were wounded, Benton seriously, which angered the 
elder Benton, because he thought Jackson under obliga- 
tions to him, and prompted him to say such things as a 
choleric man is apt to say of anybody who has offended him. 
The abusive remarks were repeated to Jackson, and he, in 
one of his customary bursts of passion and profanity, de- 
clared that he would horsewhip Benton the first time he 
should see him. Hearing, a few weeks after, that his foe 
was at the City hotel in Nashville, he sought him there in 
the company of a friend. Armed with pistols and a small 
sword, he advanced with a whip in his hand, on Benton. 
who was standing at the front door, very near his brother 
Jesse. " I'm going to punish you, you blank— blank vil- 
lain," he cried; " defend yourself." Thomas Benton made 
as if to draw a weapon; his adversary pulled a pistol, and 
leveled it at his breast. Benton retreated slowly through 
the hall, followed closely by Jackson, when Jesse Denton 
fired at the latter, and shattered his arm and shoulder. Ly- 
ing helpless and bleeding on the floor, his friend discharged 
a pistol at Thomas Benton, and finding he had missed him, 
hurried forward, and was about to strike him with the butt, 
when Benton stumbled and fell to the bottom of some stairs 
he had not observed at the end of the hall. While Jack- 
son's friend was looking after him, his nephew attacked 
Jesse Benton with a bowie-knife, and the two had a savage 
and bloody encounter until they were pulled apart. This 
was not an uncommon scene in the Southwest in those days; 
Jackson was then forty-seven; had been a member of Con- 
2U 



476 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

gress, as United States Senator, and was at the time a Ma- 
jor-General of militia. 

One of the most tragical of his experiences was his dud, 
some years before, with Charles Dickinson, who had com- 
mitted the unpardonable sin of commenting freely on Mrs. 
Jackson. They had several disagreements, and Jackson 
finally spoke to Dickinson in so violent a manner that his 
language was repeated, as the General wished it should be, to 
the man himself. Thereupon Dickinson, who was about to 
start for Xcw Orleans on a flat boat, wrote Jackson a let- 
ter, denouncing him as a liar and a coward. On his return. 
Jackson challenged him, and they met on the banks of the 
Red River in Logan county, Ky., early in the morning of 
May 30, 1806. Dickinson got first fire, breaking a rib, and 
making a serious wound in the breast of his opponent, who 
showed no sign of having been hit. lie had felt sure of 
killing his antagonist, and exclaimed, " Great God, have 1 
missed him ? " Jackson, taking deliberate aim, pulled the 
trigger; but the weapon did not explode. ' It stopped at half- 
cock. He cocked it fully, and again calmly and carefully 
leveling it, fired. The bullet passed through Dickinson's 
body, just above the hips: he fell, and died that night, after 
suffering terrible agony. Jackson never recovered from 
the hurt, and never expressed the least remorse for what 
many persons pronounced a cold-blooded murder. 1 here 
b no doubt that he had made up his mind to kill Dickinson. 
Any man who had spoken discreditably of Mrs. Jackson 
had, in his opinion, forfeited the right to live. 

\ot long after his marriage, Jackson removed from 
Nashville to a farm, some thirteen miles distant, which he 
named The Hermitage, where he died in his seventy-ninth 



LINKS OF THE PRESIDENTS. 477 

year. He lived in a spacious home, and bad for a store a 
block house, where be sold goods to the Indians, and the 
settlers in the neighborhood. lie did a profitable hn<iness 
— his assistanl transacted mosl of it - frequently sending 
corn, tobacco, and cotton, which he raised on his land, with 
the assistance of his slaves, to the New Orleans market. 1 [e 
bad no abhorrence of slavery, though be was always a kind 
and considerate master. He was a member of the conven- 
tion that framed the constitution of Tennessee in L796, 
and was elected to Congress from the new Slate, then en- 
titled to only one representative. The next year, be was 
sent to the national Senate, but soon resigned his seat. He 
acted as a judge of the supreme court for eighl years. He 
enlistedin the war of 1812; defeated the Creek Indians, ac- 
quiring great popularity thereby, and was made a Major- 
General in the regular army. His victory at Xew Orleans 
gave him a great reputation, and rendered him an idol of the 
people of the southwest. 

In 1817-18, he carried on prosperous war against the 
Seminoles in Blorlda, seized Pensacola without authority, 
as was his wont, and hanged two British subjects for in- 
citing the Indians to hostile acts. It was a great surprise 
to the eastern and middle States when be received the 
largest number of votes of any one of the Pour candidates 
for the presidency in 1824. After Adams had been chosen 
by the House of Representatives, Jackson seemed to have 
permanently withdrawn to Tin' Hermitage; but all the op- 
ponents of Adams supported him in the next campaign, 
which was the most hitter ever known in the country, and 
he was triumphantly elected. His two terms were stormy 
enomrh. His veto of the hill granting a new charter to the 



478 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

United States Bank created great excitement, and his re- 
moval of the public deposits created still more. His pro- 
clamation against the milliners of South Carolina was elec- 
tric in its effect, and that he would have hanged them, as 
he afterwards said, if he had had cause to, is altogether 
probable. While he was with many one of the most de- 
tested Presidents that have sat in the executive chair, he 
was extremely popular with the masses. ISTor can it be de- 
nied that most of the acts for which he was once savagely 
denounced have come to be generally approved. He was 
narrow, ignorant, overflowing with passion and prejudice; 
but he was, nevertheless, honest, single-minded, and, ac- 
cording to his light, a true and conscientious patriot. 

MARTIN VAN BUREN. 

Martin Van Bnren, the eighth President, largely owed 
his office to the friendship and influence of General Jack- 
son, with whom he had made himself a particular favorite. 
Porn at Kinderhook, X. Y., December 5, 1782, he died 
near there in his eightieth year. Educated at the local 
academy, he studied law, and was admitted to the liar by 
the time he M'as nineteen. He began very early to take 
part in politics as a Democrat, and at thirty was elected to 
the State senate. He favored the war of 1812, and was 
made Attorney-General of New York. He was the ruling 
spirit of the Albany Regency, formed to oppose De Witt 
Clinton, which controlled the State politically for twenty 
years. Having been twice chosen United States Senator, 
lie resigned his position to enter the cabinet of Jackson, 
lie was nominated Minister to England, and went there; 
but his nomination was rejected by the Senate, in which 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 479 

the Whigs — the name taken during the previous adminis- 
tration by the opponents of Jackson — had then a majority. 
To indemnify him for this mortification, the Democrats 
made him Vice-President during Jackson's second term. At 
its termination, Van Bureu was put forward as a candidate 
for the presidency against Harrison, a Whig, and was 
easily elected. The year after — 18o7 — there was a 
great financial panic, with an extraordinary commercial de- 
pression, and in May of that year all the banks in the coun- 
try suspended specie payment. Van Buren, in his mes- 
sage, recommended an independent treasury, which was es- 
tablished by law in 1840. All his political friends voted 
for the resolution that Congress should lay all petitions 
for the abolition of slavery on the table without reading, 
a resolution which, as has been seen, John Quincy Adams 
gallantly defied. 

In 1840 he was renominated against his former com- 
petitor, Harrison ; but he was so assailed by the Whig news- 
papers and orators as responsible for the commercial pros- 
tration and monetary distress incident to his term of office, 
and so charged with extravagance, corruption, and indif- 
ference to the condition of the laboring classes, that, ren- 
dered odious to the masses, he was overwhelmingly defeated. 
In 1844 his name was again presented, and a majority of 
the delegates of the convention, held at Baltimore, were 
for him. But the Southerners opposed him, because he 
had expressed himself adversely to the annexation of Texas, 
and by making a vote of two-thirds necessary to a choice, 
defeated his prospects. He subsequently became a free 
Democrat, or Free Soiler. After 1848, he returned to pri- 
vate life on his estate at Linden wald, near Kindcrhook, en- 



480 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

joying leisure, wealth, and a contented old age. Long be- 
fore his death, the prejudice that had been excited by party 
politics wore away, and he was seen in his true character. 
He was an amiable and accomplished gentleman, and his 
domestic relations were very happy. His son, John, a bril- 
liant lawyer in Xew York city, survived his father but four 
years. 

WILLIAM- HENRY HARRISON. 

The administration of William Henry Harrison, the 
successor of Martin Van Buren, and ninth President, was 
the briefest in the history of the country. It lasted exactly 
one month, from the 4th of March, 1841, when he was in- 
augurated, to the 4th of April, when he died, after a week's 
illness, supposed to have been brought on by the excite- 
ment and fatigue of the campaign and the inauguration. 
He was older — being sixty-eight — than any man who 
had been called to the executive office, and possibly on this 
account less able to bear the strain. 

Harrison was born in Berkeley, Charles City county, 
Virginia, February 0, 1773, and died in Washington. His 
father was Governor Benjamin Harrison, and his family 
enjoyed good social position. He entered the army some 
time before his majority, and rose in time from ensign to 
major-general. His most important campaigns were 
against the Indians, whom he managed so well that, in 
treating with different tribes at different times, lie obtained 
from them very important concessions of land. It was dur- 
ing his Indian lighting that the successful defense of his 
camp at Tippecanoe gave him (hat nickname. He took a 
creditable part in the short war of 1812 with England; 
and, after it, went into an honorable retirement for a time 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 481 

al North Bend, Ohio, where he had a farm. II" was gent 
to Congress in 1816; after a few years, to the Senate; and 
was appointed by John Quincy Adams Minister to Colum- 
bia, lie was quickly recalled upon Jackson's inaugura- 
tion, and remained in private life until he was nominated 
for the presidency in 1836, in opposition to .Martin Van 
Bnren. He was defeated, but renominated in 1840. The 
military element having been introduced into polities by 
General Jackson's election, it was thoughl that a second at- 
tempt, with a good military record, would he more certain 
than tin 1 first had been to defeat Van Bnren. Harrison was, 
therefore, again put forward, with John Tyler of Virginia 
for Vice-President, and the ticket polled a very large and 
successful vote. The methods of conducting political cam- 
paigns had greatly changed during this period — mass- 
meetings, torch-light processions, and manufactured enthu- 
siasm becoming the order of the day. The opposition had 
east it as a slur upon Harrison that he had at some time lived 
in a log-cabin, and had only hard cider to drink. It was stu- 
pid and silly; for what a man is, not where be has lived, is 
the important thing in this country; and the Whigs quickly 
caught the words, and used " log-cabin " and " hard cider " 
with excellent effect. Harrison was a man of pleasing ad- 
dress, agreeable manners, and a thorough gentleman. 



CHAPTER XLII. 

JOHN TYLER AND JAMES K. POLK, TENTH AND 
ELEVENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Tyler the First Vice-President to Succeed the Chief Executive by 
Death — A Representative of the Same Social Class as Jef- 
ferson, Madison, and Monroe — Education and Wealth Really 
Disadvantageous to Him — A Career of Continuous Vetoes — 
Making Himself Extremely Unpopular — Forcing His Cabinet 
to Resign — The Annexation of Texas a Favorite Scheme — 
A Member of the Peace Convention in 1801 — A Former Chief 
Magistrate in Open Rebellion against the Government — Poik 
and the Mexican War — A Commonolace President. 

JOHN TYLER. 

U POINT the death of President Harrison, Vice-Presi- 
dent Tyler succeeded to the office, and was the first 
of the four Vice-Presidents who have become Pres- 
ident on the death of the elected Executive. By an odd 
coincidence, he was born in the same county — Charles 
City — in Virginia, which gave birth to Harrison, though 
the latter so early made his home in Ohio that he is com- 
monly reported as an Ohioan. Tyler was much younger 
than Harrison, having been born March 29, 1790, and was 
the second son of John Tyler, a distinguished revolutionary 
patriot. He belonged to the same social class with Jeffer- 
.-«m, Madison, and Monroe, but was a man of very different 
caliber. He was narrow-minded where they were broad, 

'(482) 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 485 

bigoted where they were liberal, reactionary in his political 
principles where they were progressive, and was, indeed, 
what has recently been considered a typical Southerner 
rather than a typical American. In his youth he had all 
the advantages of education and wealth; but, to a man of 
his turn of mind, they were really disadvantages. 

Tyler held many offices, beginning with the Virginia 
Legislature, passing on to the House of Representatives in 
Washington, and thence to the Senate, before being nom- 
inated to the vice-presidency. In the Senate he succeeded 
the famous John Randolph, and while there began his well- 
known career of opposition to progress, which resulted in 
continual presidential vetoes during his administration. 
As Senator, he voted against all efforts toward internal im- 
provements by the general government, against various 
tariff bills, and against many things which showed an en- 
lightened public spirit. He made himself very unpopular, 
but was finally nominated for the vice-presidency, in order 
to draw the southern vote to Harrison, with whose nomina- 
tion the South was much dissatisfied, having preferred 
Henry Clay. Tyler was then acting with the Whig party, 
but soon after his accession to the presidency he began to 
offend his party by his ill-considered acts, and speedily 
forced all his cabinet except Daniel Webster, the Secretary 
of State, to resign. His course became so unsatisfactory 
during the second year of his administration that the Whig- 
members of Congress felt called upon to publicly declare 
themselves as entirely at odds with the President, and n<> 
longer his adherents. 

The annexation of Texas occurred during President Tv 
ler's administration, and was a scheme much favore 1 by him. 



4yt> LINKS OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

It was only successfully carried, however, with the aid of 
the Democrats in Congress, whose influence Tyler continu- 
ally sought, after antagonizing his own party. 

Although Tyler accepted a renomination from a con- 
vention composed mainly of office-holders, held in May, 
1844, it soon became evident, even to him, that he would 
certainly be ignominiously beaten; consequently he with- 
drew his name from the candidacy . lie was the first Pres- 
ident to express himself actively in favor of slavery, and 
everything which looked toward a limitation of the " insti- 
tution " aroused his most violent opposition. In 1861 he 
was a member of the Peace Convention, held in Wash- 
ington, in the futile hope of arranging the difficulties be- 
tween the seceded States and the National government. 
The convention being without result, he threw in his for- 
tunes with the Confederacy, and presented the humiliating 
spectacle of a former Chief Magistrate in open rebellion 
against the government of which he had once been the 
head. 

Tyler was twice married, and was the father of several 
children, lie died on January IT, 1862; at Richmond, 
Virginia, while a member of the Confederate Congress. 

JAMES K. rOLK. 

James Tvnox Polk, the eleventh President, was born in 
Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, November L2, 1T'.K">. 
Tie did not, like the Virginia Presidents, spring from the 
wealthy and cultured elass, but was the son of a farmer in 
very moderate circumstances, who removed in 1800 to Tcn- 
nessee. His early education was very limited; but he man- 
aged to prepare himself for college, and was graduated in 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 487 

181S from the University of North Carolina. He began 
to practice at the bar in L820; was elected to the State leg- 
islature in L823; was sent to Congress in 1825, where he 
was strongly opposed to President John Quincy Adams' 
administration. Later he became ardently devoted to Gen- 
era] Jackson, and remained a most earnest Democrat during 
his life. In 1835, Polk was elected Speaker of the Eouse. 
After being in Congress fourteen years, he declined a re- 
nomination, and retired to Tennessee, only to he immedi- 
ately made Governor of the State. In May, 1844, the Na- 
tional Democratic convention nominated him for Presi- 
dent, with George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania for Vice- 
President. The Whig candidates were Henry Clay and 
Theodore Frelinghuysen. Polk and Dallas were success- 
ful, and entered office March 4, 1845. The annexation of 
Texas had just been advised by President Tyler, and it be- 
came the most important effort of President Polk's adminis- 
tration to defend the frontier of our new possession. He 
sent General Taylor with a small force to occupy the dis- 
puted land between the Xueces river, which .Mexico claimed 
as the boundary, and the Pio Grande, which the govern- 
ment claimed as the boundary. In April, 1846, active 
fighting began between General Taylor and General Arista, 
the Mexican commander. The President then declared 
that war existed, and asked Congress for men and money. 
Authority was given to call for fifty thousand men and $10- 
000,000. Although the war was generally unpopular at 
the North, it was prosecuted with energy, our forces even 
penetrating to the very capital of Mexico. Mexico ended 
by ceding all that was demanded of her, yielding upper 
California and New Mexico, and granting the Rio Grande 



488 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

from its mouth to El Paso, as the southern boundary of 
Texas. Beside the Mexican war, the important events in 
Polk's administration were certain modifications of the 
tariff, the creation of the department of the Interior, the 
admission of the State of Wisconsin, and the very important 
event of establishing the National Treasury system in 
Washington, independent of all State banks. 

Having agreed not to seek a renomination, President 
Polk retired from office March 4, 1849, and three months 
later died, after a few days' illness, at his home in Xashville. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

ZACHARY TAYLOR, MILLARD FILLMORE, AND FRANK- 
LIN PIERCE, TWELFTH, THIRTEENTH, AND FOUR- 
TEENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Taylor Purely a Military Man — His Reputation Made in the Mexi- 
can War — His Death in Four Months — His Disqualifications 
for Political Life — Fillmore's Early Success — His Fore- 
shadowing of tlie National Banking System — Approval of the 
Fugitive Slave Law — The Irreparable Injury it did Him — 
A Candidate of the American Party — Pierce a Northern Man 
with Extreme Southern Principles — His Constant Sympathy 
with and Sustainment of Slavery — His Gallantry in the 
Field — Retirement to Private Life Equivalent to Extinction. 

TEE twelfth President, General Zachary Taylor, was 
the last of the Presidents born in Virginia. He 
first saw the light on September 24, 1784, in 
Orange county, from which his father. Colonel Richard 
Taylor, removed to the neighborhood of Louisville, Ken- 
tucky, in 1785. Until he was twenty-three, Zachary re- 
mained on his father's plantation; but in 1808, his elder 
brother, Hancock, died in the army, ami the commission — 
that of lieutenant ■ — which he held, was offered to Zachary. 
This was the beginning of a military career which lasted 
nearly all his life. After the declaration of war against 
Great Britain in 1812, he, being then a captain, was placed 

(489) 



490 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

in command of Fort Harrison on the Wabash River, not 
far from Vincennes. This was furiously attacked at night 
!>\ the Indians; bul ( Japtain Taylor, with a handful of men, 
two-thirds of thorn being ill, made a brilliant and success- 
ful defense, and received as his reward from President Mad- 
ison the brevet rank of major — the first time a brevet 
rank was ever conferred in our army. Having thus estab- 
lished his military reputation, he constantly held important 
commands until the peace in 1815, when, for a brief period, 
he resigned his commission, and retired to private life. 

lie was soon reappointed, however, and took conspicu- 
ous part in the Black Hawk war, and in the conflicts with 
the Indians in Florida in 1836-37, and in 1840 was ap- 
pointed commander of the First Department of the South- 
west. About this time lie purchased an estate at Baton 
Rouge, and removed his family thereto. In July, 1845, 
following the annexation of Texas, he was ordered with 
fifteen hundred troops to defend our new possession against 
invasion by Mexico. He encamped near Corpus Christi, 
and his force was soon increased to four thousand. It 
was pretty plainly indicated to General Taylor that the 
government would be glad to have him throw down the 
gauntlet to Mexico by moving into the disputed territory. 
Taylor, however, was to wise to commit any overt act until 
expressly ordered to do so by President Polk. Being posi- 
tively ordered to advance, he began to move toward the Rio 
Grande on March 8, 1846, and on the 28th reached the bank 
of the river opposite Matamoras. On the 12th of April, 
General Ampudia, in command of the Mexican forces 
nearby, senl word to General Taylor to retire to the Nueces 
River, while the boundary question was being settled by the 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. I'.ll 

respective governments, al the same time declaring a failure 
to comply with the advice would be construed as a decla- 
ration of war by Mexico. Genera] Taylor replied thai his 
instructions did no1 permit him to retire, and thai if the 
Mexicans chose to begin hostilities, he was prepared. Such 
was the beginning of the Mexican war. On the 8th of 
May, the battle of Tain Alto, the first of the war, was won 
by Genera] Taylor; and from that day until Ids return home 
in November, 1847, Old Rough and Ready, as he was 
called by his soldiers, was almost uniformly successful. 

In June, L848, he was nominated for President by the 
Whigs, upon the express understanding that he should be 
unbound by pledges. Millard Fillmore of Xew York was 
nominated for Vice-President. Although the nomination 
of Genera] Taylor was quite popular among the people, 
it gave considerable offense to a number of the northern dele- 
gates, and Henry Wilson and some others withdrew from 
the convention to form the Free Soil party, the basis of which 
was opposition to the extension of slavery. The Demo- 
crats nominated Lewis Cass; but on account of his known 
pro-slavery principles, many of his party refused to vote 
for him, giving their suffrages to the Free Soil candidates, 
Martin Van Buren and (diaries Francis Adams. General 
Taylor was, however, elected, and was inaugurated on Mon- 
day, March 5, 1849. 

The most important questions of his administration con- 
cerned the admission of California as a State, the organiza- 
tion of the new territories, and the still vexed boundaries of 
Texas; the vital point being the relation of slavery to the 
new sections. At that time, there were an equal number 
of slave and free States, giving an exact balance of power 



492 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

in the Senate, and the admission of California either as a 
free or a slave State was a matter of vital importance to 
both political parties. President Taylor recommended 
that California be admitted; that the new territories should 
draw up constitutions to suit themselves on the subject of 
slavery, and be ultimately admitted as States on these 
bases. This view was too liberal for the slave-holding lead- 
ers of the South, and many of them already threatened seces- 
sion. In the Senate, Henry Clay was attempting to ef- 
fect some sort of compromise — compromise which has 
ever been the bane of the country — when President Tay- 
lor was attacked with bilious fever on July 4, 1850, and 
died five days later at the White House. 

Few of the Presidents have been less prepared to fill 
that high office. He was ignorant, not only of state-craft 
and politics, but he had not had the most ordinary advan- 
tages of education. On the other hand, he had sterling 
qualities of character; he was simple, modest, loyal, and 
thoroughly desirous to do his duty as far as a limited un- 
derstanding made it plain; and he died amid sincere regret. 
He left several children, one of his daughters being the first 
Mrs. Jefferson Davis. 

MILLARD FILLMORE. 

Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth President, was born 
January 7, 1800, in Locke, now Summerhill, Cayuga 
comity, New York. The region was then a wilderness, 
and his opportunities for education were limited to the 
most elementary parts. At fourteen he was apprenticed 
to learn the fuller's trade; but in his nineteenth year deter- 
mined to study law. He agreed, therefore, to buy the rest 



LIVES OK THE PRESIDENTS. pi:; 

of his time from his employer, and with a neighboring law- 
yer arranged to earn his lessons. In L821, he made his 
way on foot to Buffalo, and arrived an utter stranger with 
his entire fortune of $4 in his pocket. He obtained em- 
ployment by teaching school, and assisting the postmaster 
while he prosecuted his studies, and the energy and deter- 
mination which had helped him so far carried him to the 
bar before the usual period of preparation. He began prac- 
tice at Aurora, 1ST. Y., where his father then resided. He 
gradually built up a prosperous practice, and in 1830 re- 
moved to Buffalo, which was ever after his home. 

His political life began in 1828, on his election to the 
State legislature by the anti-Masonic party. He particu- 
larly distinguished himself by advocating the abolition of 
imprisonment for debt; the bill in relation to which was 
mainly drafted by him. In 1832, he was sent to Congress 
on the anti-Jackson ticket. In 1836 he was sent again by 
the Whigs, and remained until 1842, when he declined a 
renomination. Fillmore earnestly supported President John 
Quincy Adams in his course concerning the reception and 
reading in Congress of petitions adverse to slavery. He 
declared himself adverse to the admission of Texas as a 
slave State; he was in favor of the immediate abolition of sla- 
very in the District of Columbia, — and of Congress using 
all its constitutional powers to prevent the slave trade be- 
tween the States. He would not, however, pledge him- 
self not to change his opinions on these vital questions. Fill- 
more was a most devoted representative, and was one of the 
most active members during his entire term in Congress. 
He retired in 1843, and was a candidate for the nomination 

of Vice-President in 1844, but was defeated. He was also 
30 



494 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

defeated for Governor of ISTew York in 1845 by Silas 
Wright. In 1847 he was elected comptroller of the State, 
and in his report in 1849 suggested that a national bank, 
with United States stocks as a basis for the issue of currency, 
would be a great convenience for the people; thus fore- 
shadowing our present national banking system. 

In June, 1848, Fillmore was really nominated for the 
vice-presidency with General Taylor for President, and 
was elected the following November. When John C. Cal- 
houn was Vice-President, he had made the rule that the 
Vice-President had no power to call the Senate to order. 
Fillmore, however, in a 'brief, but telling speech, announced 
his intention of keeping order in that body, and reversing 
any previous rules, if necessary. His course was highly 
commended by the Senators of all parties. 

On the 10th of July, 1850, he was sworn in as President 
upon Zachary Taylor's death. The question of the con- 
stitutionality of the act compelling the return of fugitive 
slaves soon came up for decision, and was referred to the 
Attorney-General, John J. Crittenden of Kentucky. He 
decided in favor of the bill, and the President concurred in 
the decision. This was one of the most unpopular meas- 
ures of Fillmore's administration; for many members of 
the Whig party were opposed to encouraging slavery, al- 
though not avowedly of the anti-slavery faith. The exe- 
cution of this law was constantly resisted, and although the 
President declared it should be maintained because it was 
the law, those who resisted it were not, in consequence of 
it- unpopularity, often molested. The signing of the Fu- 
gitive Slave bill, as it was called, was almost the only very 
unpopular act of Fillmore's administration, which in many 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 495 

respects was remarkably successful; hut be was so distaste- 
ful to the northern public that, when a candidate for re- 
nomination in 1852, he could not secure twenty votes in 
the free States. Once afterward, in 1850, he was non 
iuatcd by the American or Know-Nothing party for Pres- 
ident, against Buchanan, nominated by the Democrats, and 
Fremont by the Republicans. He received quite a large 
popular vote; but Maryland alone gave him its electoral 
vote. After this, he wholly retired from public life, and 
lived in Buffalo until his' death, March 8, 1874. 

FRANKLIN PIERCE. 

Franklin Pierce, fourteenth President, although well 
born — his father being a Revolutionary general, and Gov- 
ernor of his native State — and well educated, was one of 
the most unenlightened Executives the country has had. 
His body was born in Hillsborough, Xew Hampshire, ISTov- 
ember 23, 1804 ; but his mind was native to the most bigoted 
region of the South of those days. He was graduated at 
Bowdoin College in 1824, in the same class with iSTathaniel 
Hawthorne; he studied law at Portsmouth and Amherst, 
jST. II., and Northampton, Mass., and was admitted to the 
bar in 1827. At the age of twenty-five he was elected to 
the legislature, remaining four years. At twenty-nine, 
he was sent to Congress, and in 1837, when barely of legal 
age, was sent to the Senate. This rapid political advance- 
ment indicated that he was regarded as an exceptionally able 
young man; but it also indicates that the constituency which 
thus recognized his ability must have been no less narrow- 
minded than himself. All his congressional course was in 
the line of political retrogression, and he uniformly voted 



496 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

with the Southern members in favor of all pro-slavery and 
other mistaken acts. He ardently approved the annexation 
of Texas, and was in such cordial sympathy with President 
Polk concerning the Mexican war, that he enlisted in one of 
the earliest volunteer regiments. He was shortly after made 
colonel of the Ninth regiment, and was commissioned brig- 
adier-general before he departed for the seat of war. The 
appointment, however, was justified by his bravery and wis- 
dom on the battle-field; and at the close of the war he re- 
turned to his home and his law practice, covered with laurels. 
In 1852, he was nominated by the Democrats for the 
presidency, and elected by an overwhelming majority. In 
his inaugural address he foreshadowed his future blind 
policy. He argued that slavery was recognized by the 
Constitution; that therefore the Fugitive Slave law was 
light, and should be carried out; and he denounced all agi- 
tation of the slavery question. Among the most important 
events of the administration Avere the repeal of the Missouri 
( 'mnpromise, the organization of the territories of Kansas 
and Nebraska, under the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the ne- 
gotiation by Commodore Perry of our first treaty with the 
hitherto unknown country of Japan. It was about this 
time that the troubles between the anti-slavery and pro- 
slavery citizens of Kansas began; and on January 24, 1856, 
President Pierce sent a message to Congress declaring the 
formation of a free State government in Kansas an act of 
rebellion. The President's course in relation to the bor- 
der troubles, as they were then called, gave great offense, 
and justly, to a very large part of the North, although anti- 
slavery tenets Avere then by no means popular. There is 
little doubt, however, that his evident southern procliA'ities 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 497 

helped to defeal Pierce for renomination; for sectional feel- 
ing, which resulted later in civil war, was already beginning 
to run high. As long as he remained the Executive, Pierce 
did his utmost to prevent the new States, Kansas especially, 
from being free, and when he retired, on March 4, 1857, he 
left the way open for his weak-kneed successor, James Bu- 
chanan, to do the same. 

After lea viiii; the White House, Pierce made a pro- 
tracted European tour, and returned to New Hampshire 
about the beginning of the Rebellion. During its progress 
he declared in a public speech his entire sympathy with the 
South. He passed into a retirement which became prac- 
tically oblivion, and died at Concord, October 8, 1869. 

Personally he was amiable, courteous, and refined, and 
much liked by his intimate friends; but his peculiar bias 
prevented him from comprehending both sides of a ques- 
tion. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

JAMES BUCHANAN, FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 

An Unpopular Administration —James Buchanan's Early History 
— Sent to Congress at Twenty-nine — The Weakest of Presi- 
dents— His Total Inadequacy for the Great Emergency in 
Which He was Placed — Shrewd for His Own Interest — An 
Admirer and Follower of Jackson Without His Will or 
Courage — The Anti-Slavery Excitement in Kansas — The 
Cause of the Civil War Inherent in the Constitution — The 
Nation on the Eve of a Conflict — Admission by Buchanan of 
the Right of the Southern States to Secede — A Pitiful Spec- 
tacle of Imbecility — General Relief at the End of His Admin- 
istration. 

NO administration, unless it was John Tyler's, has ever 
boon so unpopular as James Buchanan's. Odious 
throughout the J^orth on account of what was de- 
clared to be Ills cowardly and treacherous yielding to the 
outrageous and rebellious acts of the South, it was, towards 
its close, bitterly condemned by the South, which accused 
him of perfidy to them in sustaining the unconstitutional ag- 
gressions of the North, lie shared the fate of most men 
who, in times of tierce dissension between two great par- 
ties, try, in a feeble and vacillating way, to avoid offending 
either, and end by offending both. 'Flic best that can be 

said of Buchanan is that, placed in a most difficult and crit- 

( 498 ) 





THE BLUE ROOM IN THE WHITE HOUSE 

(Decorated t< >r ;i reception.) 
THE RED ROOM IN THE WHITE HOUSE. 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 501 

ical situation, which would have tested the powers of the 
strongest man, lie was found weak and irresolute, and shame- 
fully inadequate to the vast emergency. 

His father was a Scotch-Irishman, who had immigrated 
to this country without means or prospects, and had mar- 
ried, soon after arrival, Elizabeth Speer, a farmer's daugh- 
ter. They sought their fortunes in an unsettled region of 
Pennsylvania; the young husband cutting down the trees, 
and building a log hut for their future home. There, at 
the base of the eastern ridge of the Alleghanies, in Frank- 
lin county, James was born, April 22, L791, and spent 
eight years. He died near Lancaster in S line, 1868. His 
father, who, like most of his race, was industrious, shrewd, 
and thrifty, prospered in a humble fashion, and removed to 
the village of Mercersburg, where the boy was sent to 
school. He showed great aptitude and native talents, and 
entered Dickinson College at Carlisle at fourteen, and, four 
years later, was graduated with distinction. Like almost 
every other President, he took to law at Lancaster, and began 
practice when he had attained his majority. He is re- 
ported to have been tall, well-formed, vigorous, exuberant 
of spirits, and fond of manly sports. Very diligent and 
ambitious, he advanced rapidly, gained a lucrative practice, 
and at thirty was ranked as one of the first lawyers in the 
State. 

Having been sent to Congress at twenty-nine, he re- 
mained there for ten years, and when he had reached forty, 
he retired from business, having acquired what was then 
regarded as wealth. In politics he began as a Federalist; 
but he favored the war of 1812, and even volunteered for 
the defense of Baltimore. Subsequently he turned Re- 



£02 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

publican, properly Democrat, largely through his admira- 
tion of General Jackson, and from sympathy with his doc- 
trines, — the kind of admiration, it is presumed, which a 
flabby nature has for a strong one. In 1831, he was ap- 
pointed by the President Minister to Russia, and discharged 
his duties faithfully and acceptably. On his return, two 
years later, he was chosen to the United States Senate, 
where he came into contact with Silas Wright, Calhoun, 
Webster, and Clay, the last of whom never liked him, re- 
garding him as a timid, self-seeking, time-serving man. He 
almost invariably reflected the views of the administration, 
and was accused by his opponents of obsequiousness and 
subserviency. He defended Jackson for his course in re- 
moving from office all who would not support him, or were 
of different politics — a course that has been incalculably 
mischievous to the government, and for which Jackson is 
entirely responsible — and insisted that it was not only jus- 
tifiable, but commendable. This greatly pleased Jackson, 
who never could distinguish between flattery and sincere 
appreciation, and who considered every man his enemy that 
had a will of his own. Consistently with his peculiar char- 
acter, he sustained the administration of Van Buren, and 
ardently advocated the annexation of Texas. He was re- 
turned t<> the Senate, and kept his seat until Polk assigned 
him (1845) a place in his cabinet as Secretary of State. 

Buchanan naturally employed all his energy against 
I lie Wilniot Proviso, by which slavery should be excluded 
from all territory obtained from Mexico, and was continual- 
ly nervous and troubled about the anti-slavery movement, 
at that time steadily growing. From first to last, he was 
always actively on the side of the peculiar institution, and 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 503 

was secretly despised therefor by not a few of the most zeal- 
ous Southerners. Conservative to a point of timorousness, 
he was ever in dread of a dissolution of the Union. He 
did not think the North could do too much cringing and 
skulking to placate the insolent and arrogant South. lie 
was willing that the republic should be materially pre- 
served by the sacrifice of all principle on the part of the 
free States. In a speech in the lower house, he said, " I 
shall forever avoid any expression, the direct tendency of 
which must be to create sectional jealousies, and at length 
disunion, — that worst and last of all political calamities." 
Discussing the admission of Michigan and Arkansas, in the 
Senate, he declared, " The older I grow, the more I am in- 
clined to be a States-rights man." He maintained, concern- 
ing petitions about slavery, that " Congress had no power 
to legislate on the subject," and that the body " might as 
well undertake to interfere with slavery under a foreign 
government as in any of the States where it now exists." 
More southern than the Southerners, he was without their 
motive of material interest, and without their excuse of 
local tradition and sectional prejudice. Is it strange, there- 
fore, that in 1856 he was put forward as their candidate 
for the presidency, against John C. Fremont, the first Re- 
publican candidate of the new order, and Millard Fillmore, 
Xative American ? As was said at the time, they could not 
find a more willing servant, or a more pliant tool. He re- 
ceived at the Cincinnati convention one hundred and seven- 
ty-four electoral votes out of three hundred and three, and 
became the fifteenth President. 

Extraordinary excitement was produced, the first year 
of his administration, by an effort to introduce slavery into 



504 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

Kansas, where civil war was waged. He was, of course, 
an aider and abettor of the South. He argued in his mes- 
sage that the Lecompton constitution, which was directly 
in the interest of the pro-slavery men, should he adopted; 
hut Congress resisted, and Kansas came in free. He 
wanted to buy Cuba for the advantage of slavery; he filled 
his cabinet with Democrats and their friends, and nega- 
tively, at least, helped the cause of secession by every means 
in his power. Everybody saw the long-deferred, but never- 
settled sectional conflict at hand; that the contest, which 
had been suppressed and glossed over by the Constitution 
would, after nearly a century, have to be fought out. 

The founders of the republic had secured peace by be- 
queathing the unavoidable battle to their posterity. It 
was in 1861 as it had been in 1789. That was the armis- 
tice; this was the resumption of hostilities. It was Fed- 
eralist and anti-Federalist then; it was Unionist and Dis- 
uiiionist now; but, although the words were changed, the 
meaning was the same. The cause of the civil strife was 
the outward agreement and the inward disagreement of the 
Constitution. Washington perceived its defects, but be- 
lieved it the best that could be devised, the sole alternative 
for anarchy and civil war. And so it was; but the Civil 
war came, and was bound to come in <\uo season. America 
compromised then, ami kept compromising for two genera- 
tions, and the result of the compromise was a mighty fra- 
ternal struggle, which for bloodshed and horror has never 
been equaled. The cause of the conflict was the hollow 
compromise of the Constitution. Its framers were most 
thoughtful, prudent, sagacious. They did all that they 
could. They saw the present; they could not perceive the 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 505 

future. And now that future is, fortunately, behind us; 
ami we as a people are, for the firsi time, united by common 
losses, common sufferings, and common sorrows. 

As Buchanan's term drew toward a elose, the people 
of the Xorth became more and more aroused against him 
for his constant concessions to the slave power. The anti- 
slavery feeling grew more and more intense, and culmin- 
ated in the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for President, 
who had given assurances that he would be the Executive 
of the whole country. The South pronounced him a sec- 
tional candidate, ami declared it would go out if he should 
be elected. It had said the same thing about Fremont. 
It had been threatening to dissolve the Union so long — 
it had always kept political control by menacing the North 

— that the free States had finally got tired of hearing the 
threat. They were anxious to learn whether it was in 
earnest or not. If not, they ought to know it; if in earnest 
they should know it also. The knowledge could not come too 
soon. The disrupture might as well be then as at any time 

— better, indeed. So they elected Lincoln, and the dis- 
integration began. 

Buchanan admitted the right of the southern States 
to secede, and held that Congress had no power to prevent 
them. He sat, nevertheless, in his bewilderment, and saw 
the arms of the republic stolen, the national foils sur- 
rendered, State after State discarding its allegiance. Then' 
was no remedy for it, in his flaccid mind. He did not even 
remonstrate. All his censure was for those averse to the 
extension of slavery. ITis words were: "The long-con- 
tinued interference of the northern people with slavery 
in the South has at length produced its natural effects." 



506 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

It was a pitiful spectacle of imbecility. How differently 
Andrew Jackson, whom he had assumed to admire, would 
have acted in his place ! He would have done something, 
and something decisive. He would have taken the respon- 
bility. He would have taught the rebels a lesson at the 
outset. The war would at least har Q , begun earlier. 

Two months before the inauguration of Lincoln, the 
South had prepared itself for an aggressive struggle; had 
strengthened its position by seizing government property, 
and the head of the nation had not lifted a finger against 
them. If he had been hired to co-operate with them, he 
could hardly have served them more effectually. Many 
conciliatory measures were proposed by the North ; but the 
rebels rejected them. They evidently scorned the govern- 
ment, as they had reason to, with such an unexeeutive Exec- 
utive. Buchanan seemed concerned only with the date 
of the 4th of March, when his administration would end, 
and his responsibility for overt acts would cease. It did 
end, and the Nosth breathed freer, and experienced a sense 
of relief and of diminished shame that there would be no 
more of him forever. 






CHAPTER XLV. 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 

Contrast between Lincoln and Buchanan — His Lonely Boyhood 
and Severe Youth —The Cause of His Detestation of Slavery — 
The Campaign with Douglas in Illinois Introduces Him to 
the Nation — The Irresistible Magnetism of the Rail-Splitter — 
His Nomination at Chicago — Deplorable Condition of the 
Country at the Time of His Inauguration — His Resolve to 
Preserve the Union at all Hazards — Distressing Effect of 
His Assassination — His Personal Appearance and Power of 
Persuasion —How the Future will Regard the Great President. 

THERE has scarcely ever been a greater contrast be- 
tween two men in power than between James Bu- 
chanan and Abraham Lincoln. They were anti- 
podes. One was an embodiment of feebleness, the other 
an incarnation of strength. The best of Buchanan was 
outside; the best of Lincoln inside. You had to know 
one to measure his weakness, and the other to understand 
his greatness. That such men should succeed one an- 
other is one of the antitheses in which history and nature 
delight. 

The sixteenth President, who is as certain of lasting 
fame as Washington, was born in Hardin (now Lame) 
county, Ky., February 12, 1809, his ancestors having gone 
from Pennsvlvania to Virginia, whence they had removed 

(507) 



508 LINKS OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

to Kentucky. His father, Thomas Lincoln, and his mother 
Nancy Hanks, were Virginians. The childhood of Abra- 
ham Lincoln was lonely, sterile, and full of hardship. At 
eight years of age, his parents went to Spencer county, 
Ind., and he remembered how severe the journey was, and 
how much he endured in making it. Two years later, 
he lost his mother, — a bitter loss which he never ceased to 
mourn. She had taught him to read, and did much to 
form his character, young as he was. Among the few 
books that he had and prized in his boyhood were Robin- 
son Crusoe, Pilgrim's Progress, and a Life of Wash- 
ington, which left a marked impression on his mind, and 
from which he could repeat long passages after he had 
become a man. At twenty-one he went to Macon county, 
Illinois. He volunteered for the defense of the frontier 
settlements on the breaking out of the Black Hawk war 
in 1832, but it came to an end before he had seen any ser- 
vice. In the same year, he advocated the cause of Henry 
Clay against that of General Jackson, and was sorely trou- 
bled at the former's defeat, having formed an enthusiastic 
admiration for him. In 1834, he was elected to the leg- 
islature, and re-elected in 1836 and 1838. He had al- 
ready formed decided opinions on slavery, and had pro- 
claimed that it was founded on injustice and bad policy, 
lie had soon slaves chained and whipped when he was a 
young man at New Orleans, and lie hated slavery ever 
after. Admitted to the bar, he began to practice at Spring- 
field, Til., in 1837, and five years after he married Mary 
Todd, daughter of Robert S. Todd of Lexington, Ivy. 

Having become prominent as a Whig in his own State, 
he was sent to Congress in 1846, and while there always 



LIVES OK THE PRESIDENTS. 509 

acted on the side of freedom. But his reputation was 
local until he had been nominated, in 1858, by the Repub- 
lican convention of Illinois for the United States Senate 
in opposition to the re-election of Stephen A. Douglas. 
Lincoln challenged his adversary to canvass the State, and 
they did so, speaking in joint debate seven times. It was 
a remarkable campaign, and attracted national attention. 
The main question was on the admission of Kansas as a 
free or slave State. Douglas's assumptions of superior- 
ity, and allusions to his opponent's early poverty and 
humble employment, were received with entire good na- 
ture, and with such hunlorous turns and telling retorts 
that the Little Giant was put to disadvantage. Indeed, 
skillful and brilliant debater though he was, he was no 
match for Lincoln, whose homely common sense and sa- 
gacious mind had far more influence with the people. 

The rail-splitter, as he was called — he had often split 
rails to build cabins — was one of the most persuasive and 
effective speakers. Nobody who had ever heard him once, 
whatever his prejudice beforehand, could fail to like him. 
He was so simple, so fair, so direct, so convincing, that he 
would always carry his audience with him. It is doubtful 
if he has ever had his equal in this respect in the United 
States. " To listen to Lincoln," said a prominent poli- 
tician, " is to be on his side. There is no resisting him or 
his conclusions." 

Lincoln actually compelled Douglas during that mem- 
orable campaign to array himself against the Dred-Scott 
decision, and this so enraged the extreme southern Dem- 
ocrats that they refused to support him for President in 
1860. They nominated John C. Breckinridge instead, 



510 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

and this frustrated Douglas's hopes and burning ambition. 
Lincoln was defeated by a peculiar arrangement of the leg- 
islative districts, notwithstanding that he had a plurality of 
more than 4,000 votes over his rival. But the Illinois 
campaign made him President. 

In 1860, he delivered a strong and eloquent speech 
on the vital question of slavery at the Cooper Institute in 
.New York, and then went to New England, where he also 
spoke most effectively. The Chicago convention denied 
in its platform the right of Congress, of a territorial legis- 
lature, or of any individual or individuals, to give legal 
existence to slavery in any territory of the United States, 
and on the third ballot nominated Lincoln as the Republi- 
can candidate. Win. H. Seward's friends were greatly 
disappointed, for they had been confident of his success, 
particularly after he had led Lincoln on the first two ballots ; 
but they soon became reconciled. The canvass was most 
enthusiastic and demonstrative, and the feeling all over the 
country was that we were on the eve of a crisis. Lincoln 
received ISO electoral votes, Breckenbridge 72, John Bell 
30, and Douglas 12. 

When Lincoln had taken his seat, seven States had 
formally seceded, and seven more were contemplating 
si icession. The "North was, thanks to the administration of 
Buchanan, deprived of all the requirements of war; the 
small army and navy had been purposely scattered; the 
treasury was empty. The free States had scarcely de- 
rided what course to take, when the attack by South Car- 
olina on Sumter forced civil war upon them. Then they 
were unanimous in raising money and men; they were 
ablaze with patriotism; they were as belligerent as the 






LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 5H 

South, though less boastful and confident. For four years 
war raged fiercely, success alternating with defeat. There 

were many despondent hours and dark days, and the Pres- 
ident was urged to various measures for the good of the 
country, which he declined. Fault was found with him in 
various quarters; he was termed slow, obstinate, wrong- 
headed; but the end proved his consummate wisdom. He 
was a horn leader of men. He understood his fellow-coun- 
trymen, the drift of events, and the needs of the time as 
no one else understood them. He steadily refused to pro- 
claim emancipation until the occasion was ripe (September 
22, 1862), and he was the man who knew when that would 
be. 

The Fugitive Slave Law was repealed in June, 1864, 
and, about that date, Lincoln said in an interview: " There 
have been men base enough to propose to me to return our 
black warriors of Port Hudson and Olustee, and thus 
win the respect of the masters they fought. Should I do 
so, I should deserve to be damned in time and eternity. 
Come what may, I will keep my faith with friend and foe. 
My enemies pretend I am now carrying on this war for the 
sole purpose of abolition. So long as I am President, it 
shall be carried on for the sole purpose of restoring the 
Union. But no human power can subdue this Rebellion 
without the use of the emancipation policy, and every other 
. policy calculated to weaken the moral and physical forces 
of the Rebellion." 

The war, which had cost a million of lives, and millions 
on millions of money, practically closed with the fall of 
Richmond. April 0, 1865. Put. while the popular rejoic- 
ing was at its height, the assassination of the great Prcsi- 
31 



512 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

denl stocked the nation, and filled its heart with mourning. 
No single event has, it is safe to say, ever so filled the coun- 
try with anguish and a sense of bereavement. The whole 
people were stunned and distressed beyond expression. 
Lincoln had grown upon them steadily and rapidly until 
they had all learned to admire, to trust, to love, and to re- 
vere him. lie had become to every man, woman, and 
child as a near and dear personal friend. He was a most 
exalted character, one of the noblest representatives of 
humanity, a credit to his kind, an almost matchless man. 
He was the Father of his Country as much as Washington 
had been. The one gave us a republic; the other pre- 
served it, when assailed by domestic enemies. As Emer- 
son puts it, " By his courage, his justice, his even temper, 
his fertile counsel, his humanity, he stood a heroic figure in 
the center of a heroic epoch." 

As time goes on, his reputation will grow. We are still 
too near him to measure his greatness. He was such a 
man as nature produces only at long intervals; he was of 
the grandest type of men, of whom there have been few 
in the world. Sprung from the humblest, a mere back- 
woodsman, without education, training, or any kind of 
assistance or advantage, he learned, as by intuition, to use 
his native language, the greatest of all tongues, as the 
ripest scholars could not. In force and fitness of expression 
lie has hardly been surpassed. His letters and speeches 
are models, the classics of unstudied effort, the oracles of 
the popular heart. Queer, raw, angular, awkward, homely 
of feature, no one could be long in his presence and hear 
him speak without feeling his unquestionable superioritv 
One t'oi'got his physical defects and his strange uncouth- 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 513 

ness in the power ;in<l spirit of his wonderful individuality. 
He was as good as he was great, as broad as be was tender. 
He will not he forgotten; he is unforgetable. Eveu if 
America should decline and decay, he would make it 
remembered. lie will always he recalled as the greal 
American. If ever mortal were, Abraham Lincoln is 
booked for immortality. His fame is fixed in the center 
of ages. The future will revere him as an ideal of hu- 
manity. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

ANDREW JOHNSON AND ULYSSES S. GRANT. SEVEN- 
TEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 

Johnson's Early Life and Hard Struggles — A Tailor Who was 
more than the Ninth Part of a Man — His Views of Slavery 
and Secession — His Personal Courage and its Good Effects 
Politically — His Disagreement with Congress about Recon- 
struction—The Impeachment Trial — Grant in the Mexican 
War — His Incompetency in Business — Finding his Place iu 
the Civil War — His Extraordinary Success in the Field — 
Called to Command the Army of the Potomac — His Political 
Mistakes and Alleged Greed of Power. 

ANDREW JOHNSON'S chief claim to distinction in 
the future will probably be that he was elected 
Vice-President on the ticket with Abraham Lin- 
coln, and that he succeeded him as President, after his as- 
sassination, April 15, 1865. His early life was very credit- 
able, denoting what industry, energy, and perseverance 
may accomplish againsl extreme poverty, want of educa- 
tion, and every kind of obstacle. Born at Raleigh, N. C, 
December 20, 1808, he learned the trade of a tailor, — his 
father, who died when he was a child, had been a consta- 
ble, a sexton, and a porter, — and followed it for many 

years at the little town of Greenville, Tenn. He was a 

(514) 






LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 517 

ragged urchin, a street A.rab, until lie was ten years old, 
supported by the manual labor of his mother, who belonged 
to that most unfortunate class known as the poor whiles 
of the South. He could not even read then; indeed, lie 
did not learn the alphabet until some time after. At 
eighteen, he married a girl of intelligence and considerable 
education, who became his instructor, reading to him while 
he worked at his humble calling, and teaching him in the 
evening arithmetic, geography, and history. 

lie gained considerable influence over mechanics and 
manual laborers, and by the time he was of age had taken 
quite an interest in politics, to which lie adhered through 
life. He ardently espoused their cause, and arrayed him 
self against the rich and ruling class, so strong and arrogant 
in the days of slavery. After filling several small local 
offices, lie was chosen to the lower house of- the legisla- 
ture. He was then twenty-seven, and proclaimed himself 
a Democrat of the Jaeksonian school. In 1840 he took the 
stump for Martin Van Buren against Harrison, and be- 
came a ready and popular speaker with the kind of people 
he addressed. lie was very fond of alluding to the 
fact of his being a mechanic and a wholly self-made man, — 
he never recovered from the habit, — and these constant 
allusions, whether in good taste or not, won over the com- 
mon people. In 1S43 he was sent by the Democrats to 
Congress, and kept there for ten years, and in 1857 he was 
elected to the United States Senate. 

In regard to slavery, his views were those of a South- 
erner and a Democrat. He accepted it, and believed it 
protected by the Constitution, although he did not think it 
would last, or that it ought to, if it should endanger the 



518 LIVES Or THE PRESIDENTS. 

Union. In the canvass of 18G0, he supported Breckin- 
ridge, the candidate of the extreme Southerners; but 
when they threatened secession he opposed them, declar- 
ing any such attempt both unjust and madly foolish. He 
maintained that they should contend for their rights in the 
Union, not out of it; that to secede would ruin whatever 
prospects they might have. He boasted that he had voted 
and spoken against Lincoln, and spent money to prevent 
his election. But as time went on, he grew more and more 
inimical to the doctrine of State rights, and the action of 
the secession party. One day, a mob entered the railway 
car in which he was returning home, for the purpose of 
lynching him; but when he drew his pistol, the mob re- 
tired in disorder. Johnson was, personally, very brave, as 
he had often proved, and his bravery, doubtless, preserved 
him from frequent assanlts. The most furious rebels had 
a sense of prudence which prevented them from attacking 
a man they hated, when they knew he would defend him- 
self desperately. Not daring to molest him, they were 
contented to burn him in effigy, which pleased them, and 
did him no harm. His wife and child were driven from 
their home, and his nine slaves confiscated. Having born 
appointed Military Governor of Tennessee by Lincoln, he 
discharged his difficult and dangerous duties ably and 
fearlessly, exercising a most favorable influence in the 
State. 

Elected Vice-President in 1864, he was at first very se- 
vere on the enemies of the government, but afterward 
changed his policy to one of conciliation, which rendered 
him very unpopular in the Forth. He became President 
at Lincoln's death, and was soon involved with Congress 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. ,",1!) 

because he was inimical (<> their views of reconstruction 
and tlu' rights of freedmen. He vetoed various acts, which 
were passed over his head, and put himself in so antagonis- 
tic a position to tlie body that its members decided to im- 
peach him. Charged, among other offenses, with violating 
the act regulating the tenure of "certain civil offices — he 
had suspended Secretary Stanton from the war office with- 
out the consent of the Senate — he was formally impeached 
for high crimes and misdemeanors. At the close of the 
trial, thirty-live Senators voted him guilty, and nineteen 
not guilty; and as a two-thirds vote was required to con- 
vict, Johnson escaped by just one vote, lie declared, in 
his defense, that his policy of reconstruction had been out- 
lined and agreed upon by President Lincoln and his cab- 
inet, and that Stanton himself had pronounced the tenure- 
of-office act unconstitutional. His undignified, incon- 
sistent, and intemperate course had forfeited the esteem in 
which the nation had held him, and he went out of office 
with general approval. Still seeking place and power, he 
was elected United States Senator in January, 1875; but 
he died, at sixty-six, the next July, of paralysis. Andrew 
Johnson was one of the men who had lived too long for his 
own fame or for his country's good. 

ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

XHysses S. Grant was a notable instance of a man who 
does not find the work he is best fitted for until ]\\< youth 
has passed. But for the Civil war, and the opportuni- 
ties it gave him of displaying his military talents, it is en- 
tirely probable that he would have been unrecognized and 
obscured. Tf any one had predicted, on the election of 



520 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 

Lincoln, that Grant would be one of the greatest generals 
of the war and President of the United States, he would 
have been laughed at. Ko one seems to have suspected 
that Grant was in any way remarkable until he had dem- 
onstrated it by deeds. It is, indeed, doubtful if he had 
ever suspected it himself. But he was so quiet and reti- 
cent that it will never be known exactly what opinion Grant 
entertained of Grant. It may be that he was more sur- 
prised than anybody else when he made the discovery of 
his own heroship. lie may have questioned his own iden- 
tity or have thought, like the Irishman, that he had been 
changed during the night. 

Grant was, as his name indicates, of Scotch extraction, 
but remotely. His parents were both Pennsylvanians, 
though he was a native of Point Pleasant, Clermont coun- 
ty, Ohio, having been born April 27, 1822. Having re- 
ceived a partial education at a common school, he entered 
West Point as a cadet at seventeen, and was graduated four 
years later, standing twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine, 
which is not a flattering record. He went with his regi- 
ment as lieutenant to Mexico, and distinguished himself 
in divers engagements, having been brevetted captain for 
gallantry at Chapultepec. After the capture of the City 
of Mexico, he returned with his regiment, married Julia 
T. Dent of St. Louis, sister of one of his classmates, and at 
thirty-two resigned his commission. He went upon a farm 
belonging to his father-in-law, near St. Louis; he was a real- 
estate agent in that city, and a clerk for his father, then a 
leather merchant at Galena, Ilk, but did not prosper. He 
appeared to be unpractical, indolent, careless, and was gen- 
erally regarded as a ne'er-do-well. If was said that he was 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 52l 

never able to provide for his family, which would have 
come to want hut for his father-in-law, who often regretted 
that his daughter was the wife of so incompetent a person. 

When the Civil war had broken out, he was one ot 
the first to enlist, and was elected captain of a company ot 
Illinois volunteers, who reported for duty at Springfield. 
He was afterwards made colonel of an Illinois regiment, 
the Twenty-first, and became in two months a brigadier. 
His first hattle was at Belmont, Mo., claimed by both sides, 
where he had a horse shot under him. In conjunction with 
the gunboats lie ascended the Tennessee, and Fort Henry 
fell into our hands, but, mainly through the flotilla. He at- 
tacked Fort Donelson on the Cumberland and forced it to 
surrender, February 15, 1SG2, with some fourteen thou- 
sand prisoners. This, the first great success of the war for 
the Union army, filled the North with enthusiasm, gave 
Grant a high reputation and the rank of major-general. 
General Albert Sidney Johnston attacked Grant April 6th, 
at Shiloh, on the Tennessee, with far superior force, drove 
back the Union troops, and took several thousand prisoners. 
The next day, Grant, having combined with General Buell, 
renewed the fight and won a victory, General Johnston 
being killed. After a siege of six weeks, he took Yicks- 
burg — July 4, 1863, — and thirty thousand prisoners. 
This brilliant achievement turned the admiring eye- of the 
jNTorth upon him, and advanced him to tin 1 rank of major- 
general in the regular army. The following November 
he defeated Bragg at Missionary Ridge, near Chattanooga, 
and revealed himself as the proper man to take charge ot 
the Army of the Potomac, which had never achieved any 
permanent success, but had experienced any number of re- 



522 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

verses. His repeated and bloody engagements in Vir- 
ginia (lie was the only general of the Potomac who had 
ever forced and continued the fighting) until he had ob- 
liged Lee to evacuate Richmond, and then to surrender at 
Appomattox, are too well-known to require recapitulation. 
Every honor was heaped on Grant; he had conquered 
peace; he had crushed the Rebellion; he had preserved the 
republic. It was thought fitting, therefore, to put him 
at the head of the government, and he was elected, 18G8, 
the eighteenth President, against Horatio Seymour, receiv- 
ing two hundred and fourteen electoral votes, and his com- 
petitor eighty. 

Grant being in harmony with his cabinet and the ma- 
jority of Congress, which Johnson had not been, the re- 
construction of the States, lately in rebellion, steadily ad- 
vanced. He declared himself in favor of the Fifteenth 
Amendment, forbidding the disfranchisement of any per- 
son on account of race or color; and the machinery of the 
government, disordered by the obstinacy of the previous 
Executive, again ran smoothly. Grant was re-elected in 
L872 against Horace Greeley, who bad obtained the nom- 
ination of the Democrats as well as of the Liberal Republi- 
cans greatly dissatisfied with (J rant's administration. 
While they regarded some of Grant's measures as wise, 
they regarded other measures as very unwise. They had 
no reason, they said, to believe that a mere soldier, who 
had had no knowledge and no experience in political life, 
should l>e an acceptable President. He had been nominated 
<m account of his supposed availability, which had been 
proved, and for that reason be was again put forward. His 
second term was more censured than the first, Nobody ques- 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. .'.J:', 

tioned his integrity or patriotism — these had been re- 
peatedly tested in the held — hut he often seemed indif- 
ferent and obstinate. Jle was sharply criticized for his 
alleged excessive attachmenl to unworthy and unprincipled 
men whom he ranked as his friends, I lis confidence in 
them was pronounced excessive; he would believe, it was 
said, nothing against them; would not listen to those who 

wished for his own g 1 and the good of the country to 

open his eves. It would seem that Grant was not a judge 
of men in the civil service, however keen lie was in the mil- 
itary field. If he had been, he would not and eould not 
have selected for office persons who constantly abused his 
trust, and filled his administration with scandals. Fidel- 
ity to friends may be an admirable trait in private citizens, 
but such fidelity in high officials, particularly when their 
friends are charged with being- totally undeserving, is apt 
to become mischievous, and is always dangerous. 

Grant has been criticised too, for what has been called 
his lust of power. Many Republicans turned against him 
because of his desire for a third term. While there is no 
law against a third term, except the unwritten law which 
custom and precedent have made, the general feeling in 
the community is earnestly opposed to it. Grant's advo- 
cates asserted for months that he did not want it, but that 
it would be superfluous and foolish for him to decline what 
had not been offered. Nevertheless, the outward indica- 
tions were directly otherwise, and the Chicago conven- 
tion of 1SS0 made it plain that he was once more a can- 
didate of the most uncompromising and contumacious bind. 
This was pointed out by the Independents as a corrobora- 
tion of their opinion, that Grant was greedy of gain and of- 



524 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

fice, and that he felt, because lie had beaten the rebels, as 
if the presidency were his by right, and the nation could 
not do too much for him and his. They cited as evidence 
his willingness to take presents of any sort from anybody 
and everybody, and their energy of assertion, whether 
right or wrong, unquestionably injured Grant in many 
quarters. It was said by those Independents and others 
that but for the disgraceful failure of the firm in which 
the General was a partner, his name would again have been 
presented and urged at the convention of ISS-i. It was 
never mentioned, and Grant's bitterest opponents now ad- 
mit that the third-term ghost is forever laid. Grant's con- 
nection with Grant vfc Ward was most unfortunate, and 
while nobody had the hardihood to attempt to implicate 
him in its rascalities, and while events proved that he was 
not implicated, but was the victim, his ignorance of the 
character of the business of the house in which he was a 
partner gave color to the charges of his unreserved faith 
in unworthy men, and of his defective judgment concern- 
ing them. But when everything had been said, the fact 
remained that General Grant continued to be widely es- 
teemed, and to excite sincere sympathy on account of his 
financial adversities from which a much inferior, though 
different order of man, would have been protected. De- 
spite the mistakes of which he was accused in public life 
and '»nt of it, the general feeling was that he had put the 
nation under a debt of gratitude which il never can repay. 
As the incidents in his misadventure in business receded 
into history, and the General retired from active life, a 
universal sympathy for him arose. Much of the criticism 
of him was found to be unjust. His well known generos- 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 525 

ity of nature had led him to give cordial confidence to those 
who traded on his name and deceived him. A bill was 
introduced in the Senate in 1884 placing him on the retired 
list of the army with the rank and full pay of general, and 
it was passed by unanimous vote. A bill to grant him a 
pension of $5,000 a year was withdrawn at his own re- 
quest. 

In January, 1885, he became a great sufferer from a 
cancerous affection of the throat. The people everywhere 
responded with pathetic interest to the accounts of his 
suffering, which he endured with patience and manly sim- 
plicity. He died at Mount McGregor, K Y., July 23, 
1S85, and was buried at Riverside Park, where a mag- 
nificent tomb marks his resting place. 



CHAPTEE XLVIL 

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, JAMES A. GARFIELD, AND 
CHESTER A. ARTHUR, NINETEENTH, TWENTIETH, 
AND TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED 
STATES. 

Hayes as Lawyer, Politician, and Soldier — Nominated Beeanse 
an Ohioan — The Electoral Commission — Great Outcry 
against Him, but still a Creditable President —Garfield's Hard 
Fight with Fortune at the Outset — Ambition to be a Canal- 
Boat Captain — His Career in the Army — Leader of the 
House of Representatives — His Admirable Equipment for 
Political Life — His Nomination at Chicago Wholly Unex- 
pected — The National Sorrow at His Assassination — Arthur 
Born in a Log Cabin, and Ruling in the White House. 

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES was of New England 
extraction — his parents were Vermonters — 
though an Oliioan by birthright, having been born 
at the town of Delaware, October 4, 1S22. His father, 
who was in comfortable circumstances, and bad a prosper- 
ous mercantile business at Brattleboro, suddenly decided, 
after the war of 1812, to go west. He bad a fancy for 
Ohio, then regarded as the remote frontier, which, indeed, 
it was. and after a preliminary journey of inspection, he 
was so well pleased with the new region that he wont back 
and brought his family and household goods thither by 

(52G) 



c 




LINES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 529 

forty days of most fatiguing travel in a covered wagon. Bis 
father, who set up a country store in the village, and con- 
ducted it profitably, died before Rutherford's birth, but 
left his family very well-off. The youth was graduated at 
Kenyon College, Gambier, at twenty, studied law, and be- 
gan practice at twenty-three at Sandusky. 

He afterwards removed to Cincinnati, opened an office, 
and married Lucy W. Webb, daughter of a physician of 
Chillieothe. A staunch Republican in opinion, lie was 
chosen city solicitor, and grew prominent in local politics. 
Joining the Literary Club, he became a friend of a number 
of the members, among them Salmon P. Chase, John Pope, 
and Edward F. Noyes, who afterward obtained a celebrity 
in the field and in the councils of the nation. At the first 
call for troops, the Literary Club formed a military com- 
pany with the name, Burnett Rifles, and offered its services 
to the government. Not less than seventy-five members 
became commissioned officers, more than half of these 
being lawyers. Hayes was made major of the Twenty- 
third Ohio infantry, of which Stanley Matthews was lieu- 
tenant-colonel, and William S. Rosecrans colonel, and 
was assigned to duty in West Virginia. He was very ener- 
getic in campaigning, was wounded at South Mountain, 
and at the close of October was appointed a brigadier, and 
early in 18G5 a major-general by brevet for gallant conduct 
in the field, especially at Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. 
In the autumn of 1864, he was sent to Congress from one 
of the Cincinnati districts, and was sent back two years 
later. Although he seldom participated in debate, Jie 
performed a deal of hard work, and was of more value than 
many of the glib talkers in the House. Having been 



530 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

chosen governor in 1867 against Judge Thurman, Dem- 
ocrat, lie resigned his seat to go to Columbus, and was re- 
elected two years later. 

A limit this time a rich uncle, Sardis Birchard, died and 
left him a handsome property. In 1875, having again 
been put forward as Governor, because it was considered 
very important that the Republicans should carry Ohio, 
he received a majority of 5,544 over William Allen. This 
naturally introduced him as a candidate for the presidency, 
and the Ohio Republican convention in March, 1876, rec- 
ommended his nomination. At the National convention 
in Cincinnati in June, before which Blaine and Roscoe 
Conklin were most prominent, it was found impossible to 
nominate either of them; consequently the opponents of 
Blaine united on Hayes, and on the seventh ballot gave 
him 384 votes; Blaine getting 351, and Benjamin H. 
Bristow 21. In the returns of the November elections, 
Samuel J. Tilden, it will be remembered, had 184 electoral 
votes, and Hayes 172 that were unquestioned. The votes 
of Florida and Louisiana, and one of the votes of Oregon 
were in dispute on different grounds between the parties. 
There was much excitement over this, and there seemed 
to be qo way of settling the matter. Finally, it was agreed 
that the decision should be left to a commission of five 
Senators, five Representatives, and five Judges of the Su- 
preme C<mrt. Three of the Senators were to be Republi- 
cans and two Democrats, three of the Representatives Dem- 
ocrats and two Republicans. Four Judges, two of each 
party, were elected, and these were to name a fifth, who 
was ;i Republican. Thus the commission stood eight Re- 
publicans to seven Democrats, and they all voted strictly 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 53L 

in accordance with their party, declaring I hives elected 
over Tilden by one vote, and he, Haves, was duly inaugura- 
ted nineteenth President of the United States. 

There was a great Democratic outcry that Hayes had 
not been honestly elected, and he was roundly abused for 
two years. But he preserved a firm, dignified demeanor, 
and conducted his administration to a creditable close. It 
was the fashion to ridicule him as unfit for the position; 
but the facts showed nothing of the kind. lie was not a 
great or a brilliant man — few of our Presidents have been 
— but he was honest, modest, and conscientious in his high 
office, and was fully entitled to the esteem of unbiased cit- 
izens, which he won. 

His lofty purpose w r as never questioned, and after his 
retirement from the Presidency, when he returned to his 
quiet old home at Fremont, Ohio, he was the recipient of 
many honors. Much of his time was devoted to benevolent 
enterprises. As McKinley once said of him, " Xo Ex- 
President ever passed the period of his retirement from the 
executive chair to the grave with more dignity, self-respect, 
or public usefulness." He died on January 17, 1893. 

JAMES A. GARFIELD. 

James A. Garfield w r as another of the self-made men 
Avho have become Presidents of the United States, although 
there was no more likelih 1 in his youth of such an oc- 
currence than of his becoming the Mikado of Japan. Al- 
though self-made, he was better made than the great majority 
of men who are so called. He secured a regular education, 
and achieved scholarship in the teeth of the most formid- 
able difficulties by a degree of industry, energy, and perse- 



532 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

verance that is seldom equaled. lie nobly won all the 
prizes that were his. They did not fall to his lot: he 
wrested them from reluctant fortune. 

lie was from Orange township, Cuyahoga county, 
Ohio — Ohio has become the Northern mother of Pres- 
idents — having been born there November 19, 1831. 
Some of his biographers aver that he was of noble English 
descent. His father, a native of Worcester, X. Y., had 
emigrated and made what he considered a home in the pri- 
meval forest, cutting down the trees, and building a log 
cabin for his family. To that uninviting place, four chil- 
dren had been bidden, James being the youngest — they 
might not have come voluntarily — and participated with 
their parents in the desperate struggle for existence, inevi- 
table in such a region. Everything was of the rudest. They 
lived little better than savages. The cabin was without 
windows or doors, — holes serving for the purpose — and 
two or three acres of cleared land furnishing the grain, 
and the woods the game on which they subsisted. In such 
an abode the future President cut wood, dug up stumps, 
watched cattle, and tilled land until he was twelve .years 
old. His father died when he was a baby, and he might 
have starved except for his elder brother and his mother — 
her maiden name was Eliza Ballon — who labored night 
and day to keep the wolf from the door. A relative of 
Abram Garfield, who lived in the neighborhood, pitied 
their poverty, and aided them to the extent of his limited 
ability. 

James docs not seem to have been different from other 
boys, lie showed no precocious talents, or, in fact, talents 
of any sorl until he had reached his teens. His first am- 



LIVES OF THi:: PRESIDENTS. 533 

bition was to be the captain of a canal boat ; hut he never gol 
any further than to drive a mule on the tow-path on the 
Ohio canal. He was fond of reading, and, as he went to 
Cleveland frequently to sell wood or buy provisions, he had 
opportunities to get books. A nomadic teacher and 
preacher whom he had met, inspired him with a desire for 
education, and by practicing all sorts of self-denial, he was 
enabled to attend an academy. in the adjoining township of 
Chester. In one of the classes there, he made the acquain- 
tance of Lucretia Rudolph, who afterwards became his 
wife. He subsequently went to the Eclectic Institute, now 
Hiram College, where he was fitted for Williams College, 
being graduated at twenty-five. Returning to Hiram, 
he taught there for a while, and was for a short time ap- 
pointed its President. He also studied law, of course — 
nearly every public man in the republic is or has been a 
lawyer — and was admitted to the bar. Politics likewise 
engaged his attention, and be was sent by the Republicans 
to the State senate, where he exhibited decided ability. 

At the beginning of the war, he entered the field as 
colonel of the 42d Ohio volunteers, and was ordered to Ken- 
tucky. He defeated Humphrey Marshall at Paintville 
with a much inferior force, and drove him out of the State. 
receiving therefor a brigadiership at an earlier age — thir- 
ty — than any other Union soldier. Tie afterward served 
at Shiloh, Corinth, and in Alabama, and in 1863 was ap- 
pointed chief of staff of the army of the Cumberland, under 
Rosecrans. For meritorious conduct at Chickamauga he 
was made a major-general. He went to Congress the 
same year; was re-elected eight times, and after Blaine had 
been transferred to the Senate — 1876 — he was acknowl- 



534 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

edged to bo the Republican leader of the House. Gar- 
field had become a diligent student and a tireless worker, 
and did such excellent work on committees as to earn a na- 
tional reputation. No man in the country advanced more 
intellectually from the time he entered Congress until he 
stepped into the Executive mansion. He was by tempera- 
ment, training, and ambition a leader. He appeared to be 
at the time of his death the national chief of the Republi- 
can party, and he would no doubt have kept the place, had 
he lived. He was an able speaker, acquainted with 
ii nance, railways, the public needs, and such political ques- 
tions, not to speak of his knowledge of human nature, as a 
man in his position ought to be, and he went to the bottom 
of things. 

In January, 1880, he was elected to the national Sen- 
ate from Ohio, and at the National convention in June, 
which lie attended as a delegate, he was nominated to the 
presidency on the thirty-sixth ballot, Having gone to 
Chicago to support John Sherman, he had no thought of 
his own nomination, for he was not a candidate. Grant 
and Blaine were most conspicuous before the convention, 
and most of Grant's opponents at the last went over to Gar- 
field. He received in November the votes of nearly all 
the northern States. No one can forget the sad day when 
Gniteau, from anger at not getting an office, and from mor- 
bid love of notoriety, shot the President, or the still sadder 
day wlien he died. The eighty days in which his life 
trembled in the balance, were days of such anxiety, com- 
passion, and sorrow throughout the land as had never be- 
fore been felt. And when he breathed his last, the whole 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 535 

republic mourned as if it had sustained a personal be- 
reavement of the nearest and dearest. 

CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 

Chester A. Arthur was the fourth Vice-President who 
became President by the death of the Chief Magis- 
trate, and two of the deaths, strange to say, have been as- 
sassinations in a land that has an instinctive horror of as- 
sassins. Before William Henry Harrison's decease, it 
used to be said by politicians, " It matters little whom we 
nominate for Vice-President. A Vice-President is noth- 
ing but President of the Senate; he can do no harm, and 
very little good. Almost any man will answer for that 
office." The experience of fifty odd years has taught us the 
contrary. We have learned that an American President is 
as mortal as any of his fellows, and that Vice-Presidents 
are very uncertain. Not one of the Vice-Presidents, Ar- 
thur excepted, redeemed the expectations formed of them; 
and two of them rendered themselves odious to the party 
that had put them in power. Fillmore, the best of the 
three before Arthur, made himself so unpopular by ap- 
proving of the Fugitive Slave Law that he never could 
have been elected again. Put Arthur gained a repute at 
the head of the nation which he certainly did not have as 
the holder of the second place. When nominated, he was 
not generally approved; he was believed to be too much of 
a politician, and too little else. It was understood thai he 
had been put on the ticket with a view to carrying New 
York, and that this constituted his principal claim. Fol- 
lowing his election, his rampant " stalwartism," his over- 
anxiety to serve Conkling at Albany, after his resignation 



536 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

from the Senate, was harshly and justly commented on. 
But when Garfield died, he acted with delicacy and dis- 
cretion, and so acted to the end. His views proved to be 
broad and statesman-like, his bearing dignified, his policy 
enlightened. Nobody will say that he was not a good 
President. He went out of office with honors that, when 
he entered it, were not his. This is no light praise. And 
more; he removed to a degree the doubt and apprehension 
that have been associated with vice-presidential succes- 
sion. 

Arthur was the son of a Baptist clergyman from the 
North of Ireland, who had settled in eastern Canada, and 
had, with unconscious forecast, removed just across the bor- 
der, to give Ins eldest boy a geographical chance to be Pres- 
ident of the United States. He was born at the hamlet of 
Fairfield in a log cabin ; was one of five children, whom his 
father, preaching for $350 a year in an old barn, could 
hardly afford to have. But families were not then re- 
garded financially, nor were they the dispensable luxuries 
that they are now, particularly in large and expensive 
cities. The poor clergyman was obliged to eke out his 
necessary expenses by manual labor in field or shop, and 
even when his circumstances improved was but an itiner- 
ant pulpiteer, continually perplexed with making both ends 

meet. 

Chester Arthur, who w r as a polished man of society, 
and noted as an elegant dinner-giver, must have contrasted 
sometimes the sumptuousness of these days with the Spartan 
plainness of the days of his boyhood, spent in the rude 
schoolhouse of the rural districts of the time. He was 
only eighteen when he was graduated at Union College.,' 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 537 

Schenectady. After teaching a while in bis native State, he 
was admitted to the bar at twenty-eight, and settled in New 
York city. His first case that made any noise was the 
Lemmon Slave case, in which he was attorney for the 
people, and Win. M. Evarts leading counsel on the same 
side. They maintained thai eighl slaves, whom their mas- 
ter, Jonathan Lemmon of Virginia, had brought to New 
York, were made free by his voluntary act. Charles 
O'Conor and Henry L. Clinton appeared for Lemmon; but 
after various appeals, Arthur and Evarts' position was sus- 
tained. Arthur acted as counsel for a colored woman who 
had been expelled (1856) from the horse-cars on account of 
her color, and gained a verdict for damages for his client, 
which secured equal rights for negroes in all public vehi- 
cles. One of the first Republicans, he always acted with 
the party. He was appointed Engineer-in-Chief by Gov- 
ernor Morgan in 1861, and, the year following, quarter- 
master-general of the forces of the State (whence his title), 
and discharged his duties admirably. For seven years he 
was collector of the port of Xcw York, and was removed by 
Hayes, who thought the office was too much used as a politi- 
cal power in the state. He then resumed the practice of 
law, but was always a very active, — perhaps too active, — 
politician. 

At the death of Garfield, he became the twenty-first 
President of the republic. Tn a short address he declared 
his intention to continue the policy of his predecessor. The 
members of Garfield's cabinet who had sent in their resigna- 
tions to the new President were requested to hold over until 
the meeting of Congress. The resignation of Attorney- 
General McVeagh was accepted in November, and Benja- 



538 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

niin II. Brewster was called to the place. Gradually all 
the members of Garfield's cabinet retired except Robert 
T. Lincoln, who continued Secretary of War to the close 
of Arthur's term. 

The administration was uneventful but successful. It 
marked the establishment of the Civil Service commission, 
and the enactment of the tariff of 18S3. At the Republi- 
can National convention in 1884, the satisfactory adminis- 
tration of Arthur made him a strong candidate, receiving 
on the first ballot 278 votes and 207 on the fourth and 
Last, on which James G. Blaine secured 541. He re- 
tired to his home in New York in 1885, upon the inaugura- 
tion of Cleveland, and died November 18, 1886. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

GROVER CLEVELAND, TWENTY-SECOND PRESIDENT 
OF THE UNITED STATES, BENJAMIN HARRISON, 
TWENTY-THIRD, AND GROVER CLEVELAND AGAIN. 

Cleveland's Luck — Inconspicuous as a Lawyer — No National 
Reputation till 1882 — A Phenomenal Majority — His Nomi- 
nation for the Presidency —New York the Pivot — His Famous 
Tariff Message, the Mills Bill and Defeat — Harrison the 
Gallant General, Great Senator, and Successful President — 
The McKinley Bill and Reciprocity — The Sherman Act — 
A Campaign of Misrepresentation — Cleveland Again — Great 
Democratic Prospects and their Collapse. 

STEPITEX GROYEK CLEVELAND, or, as he lias 
always officially signed his name, simply Grover 
Cleveland, became a Democratic presidential 
candidate by virtue of some mistakes made by the Republi- 
cans in New York, and he became President by virtue of 
a plurality of 1,027 in the pivotal vote of Xew York, after 
an exciting contest. Until Cleveland was elected mayor 
of Buffalo in 1881, ho was hardly known in Xew York. 
Until he was elected Governor of New York, he was hardly 
known anywhere else. In both cases he received greater 
aid from certain fortunate circumstances than from any 
record he had himself made. 

He was b«»rn in Caldwell, Essex county, X. J., March 

18, 18.°,T. Three years later his father, a Presbyterian 

(r>:{9) 



540 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

minister, received a call to Fayetteville, N". Y., and the 
young man received his common school education there, 
and then took an academic course in Clinton. At the age 
of sixteen he was thrown on his own resources by the death 
of his father, and he became a bookkeeper and assistant 
teacher in the Xew York Institution for the Blind. Two 
years later he started westward, intending' to settle in Cleve- 
land and study law. But his uncle in Buffalo, William 
V. Allen, enlisted him as a law student in a prominent firm 
there. He was admitted to practice in 1859, and soon, in 
a small way, began to take part in politics. He became as- 
sistant district attorney for Erie county in 18G3, and was 
defeated as the Democratic candidate for district attorney 
in 18G5. He made no noteworthy progress in his profes- 
sion, but in 1870 was elected sheriff, a position of con- 
siderable political importance. At the conclusion of Ids 
term he returned to his practice of law, his firm becoming 
in 1881 Cleveland, Bissell & Sicard, and the same year his 
political influence made him the Democratic candidate for 
mayor. 

The Republican administration at Buffalo had become 
unsatisfactory to many Republicans of an independent 
turn of mind, and Cleveland was elected. lie made some 
reputation as a veto mayor, and secured the title of a re- 
former. He was never popular with the workers. In the 
conti st for the Democratic nomination for governor of 
New York in 1882, he received the support of those op- 
posed to the old Democratic methods, and as the Republi- 
can party in the State had become divided by factional 
strife, there was strong dissatisfaction with the Republi- 
can candidate, Charles J. Folger, then Secretary of the 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 541 

Treasury undei President Arthur. By this Cleveland 
profited, and was elected governor by the remarkable ma- 
gnify of 192,854. Although he had the reputation of 
making a good governor, it was his phenomenal majority 

and the fact that so many Independents who afterwards 
became styled as Mugwumps supported him that he be- 
came the Democratic candidate for the Presidency in 1884. 
Against the gallant and brilliant leader of the Republicans, 
James G. Blaine, these Independents turned in large num- 
bers and Cleveland was elected, as we have said, by a close 
vote in New York. Votes in some of the districts of New 
York city were held back for some time, and when they 
were at last received they showed Democratic majorities 
large enough to overcome Blaine's lead in the rest of the 
state. 

The new Democratic administration, the first since 
Buchanan's, had the assistance of a Democratic House, 
but the Senate was Republican. Excepting his marriage, 
in June, 1886, to Miss Frances Folsom, a handsome and 
popular young lady, nothing notable occurred till at the be- 
ginning of the annual session of the Fiftieth Congress, when 
President Cleveland startled the country with his famous 
message urging that the tariff, which he declared produced 
" a congested national treasury and a depleted monetary con- 
dition in the business of the country," should be reduced. 

It was hailed with delight by the Free Trade elements 
in his party and out, and was regarded as a blunder by all 
the wiser heads in his party. The result was the Mills bill, 
which passed the House of representatives, and a substi- 
tute bill, making smaller reductions, in the Senate. Both 
came to nothing. President Cleveland's first term left 



r,4:> LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

him stronger with the Mugwumps but strongly disliked by 
the " old-line " Democrats. 

BENJAMIN HARRISON. 

The industrial interests of the country were quick to 
see the dangers of President Cleveland's policy. While 
the debate on the Mills bill was in progress, President 
( Ileveland was renominated by acclamation, and at the Re- 
publican convention in Chicago, Benjamin Harrison of 
Indiana was nominated for President, and at the election 
carried every Northern state except New Jersey and Con- 
necticut. The Democrats, who had held the house of 
Representatives in every Congress since 1S75 except dur- 
ing the Forty-seventh, lost it in that return of the tide 
towards the Republicans. 

Benjamin Harrison had been tried and proved in public 
life. He had long been regarded as a great Senator. He 
became one of the most successful Presidents. He was 
born at North Bend, Ohio, August 20, 1833, and his fa- 
ther, John Scott Harrison, was a son of General "William 
Henry Harrison, who became President in March, 1841, 
and died a month later. Benjamin passed his early years 
:in his father's farm, and received his early education most- 
ly at .Miami College, Oxford, Ohio, where he graduated in 
1852, fourth in his class. After studying law in Cincin- 
nati, he married a daughter of Rev. John Scott, I). I)., of 
Oxford, and in L854 settled in Indianapolis. In 1860 he 
was elected reporter of the Supreme court, and it was no1 
long after that, in a political debate with Thomas A. Hen- 
dricks, he acquired a considerable reputation as a speaker. 

Then he helped to raise the Seventieth Indiana regiment 



LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 543 

and went to the front. He quickly became its colonel, served 
in Kentucky and Tennessee, and led the charge a1 Resaca, 

May 15, 1804, in which one-third of his command were 
killed or disabled, and for gallantry in thai and other en- 
gagements he won a commission as brigadier-general. 

After the war he resumed his law practice in Indianapo- 
lis and re-entered politics. In 1 s 7 < i he was defeated for 
governor though running two thousand ahead of his ticket. 
In 1880 he was elected to the Senate, in which he was one 
of the most prominent members. 

His administration as President was notable for its ef- 
ficiency and the prosperity that attended the country. The 
great measure of the Fifty-first Congress was the McKinley 
bill, which fixed the schedules with a view to promoting the 
industrial independence and prosperity of the United States 
while enlarging the free list and initiating the great policy 
of commercial reciprocity. Loud were the Democratic de- 
nunciations of this tariff, but it went into effect without dis- 
turbing a single industry, and the following year the com- 
merce of the country exceeded anything in its history. M r. 
Harrison and Mr. Blaine, his Secretary of State, were in- 
strumental in securing the Pan-American Congress, which 
opened up friendly commercial relations between the United 
States and the countries of South America. 

During Harrison's administration also the Sherman sil- 
ver bill was passed to meet an exigency. The Democrats 
largely voted for a free coinage measure, and one actually 
passed the Senate, but in conference Senator Sherman made 
a compromise which provided for the safe character of the 
currency to be issued. 

The executive administration of the government was 



54-t LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

conducted with marked skill and efficiency. The foreign 
policv was vigorous and enlightened and many restrictions 
that had been placed on American staples abroad were re- 
moved. During 1891 President Harrison and a party made 
an extended trip through the North and West, and his 
speeches at various places were eulogized as models of pro- 
priety and ability as an orator. Meanwhile the Democrats 
were busily engaged in a campaign of denunciation of the 
administration and the acts of Congress to convince the peo- 
ple that they were being taxed by an enhanced price of all 
they purchased because of increased tariff duties. A more 
systematic and thorough campaign of misrepresentation was 
never carried on. The elections of 1800 had shown that 
it was having its effect. In 1892, Benjamin Harrison and 
Grover Cleveland again being candidates, the latter again 
moved into the White House. Ex-President Harrison re- 
turned to Indianapolis, and resumed the practice of law. 
He is justly considered one of the ablest men in the present 
generation. In the latter part of his administration, Presi- 
dent Harrison was afflicted by the death of his wife. Early 
in 1896 lie was married again to Mrs. Dimmick, who had 
long been an intimate friend of his family, and who had 
been devoted to his first wife. 

GROVER CLEVELAND AGAIN. 

For the first time in the history of the country, a Presi- 
dent was given a second term withoul succeeding himself, 
when Grover Cleveland was inaugurated in March, L893. 
Idie election was hailed by the Democrats as establishing 
their power over the government for the next twenty years. 
< lleveland was hailed as the creator of a new era in politics. 



LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. o4o 

This time, and for the first time since the war, the Demo- 
crat-; controlled not only the executive department, bul the 
legislative branches. Protection to American industries 
they had declared a humbug, and reciprocity a sham. The 
Democrats now openly declared their purpose to reform 
the tariff on the principle of revenue only. Mugwumps 
and enthusiastic young voters in the Democratic party 
spoke of the brightness of the future, of " the dawn of a 
golden era," of "trade emancipation," and all that. 

President Cleveland himself is and was a great believer 
in himself. lie had seen fortune favor him and he re- 
garded himself as jSTapoleon did himself, a man of destiny. 
But there are clever critics at Washington and the pre- 
diction was made long before Mr. Cleveland took his oath 
that in less than two years President Cleveland would have 
his party shattered and impotent, and that he himself would 
stand as one of the most disastrous of Presidents. It proved 
to be true. Before the election took place, every loom in the 
country was running, every spindle humming; business was 
never better, bank clearings never larger, and confidence in 
the money of the country was undisturbed. But before the 
inauguration took place, the business world manifested signs 
of timidity, which increased rapidly. 

The history of what followed is well known. It forms 
the basis for Republican strength and Democratic weakness 
in the future. In two years the Democratic victory was 
turned into defeat and despair. The administration's for- 
eign policy became a reproach which few Democrats un- 
dertook to defend. Whereas under President Harrison 
over $250,000,000 of the government's debt had been paid, 
Mr. Cleveland began early to increase the indebtedness by 



546 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 

issues of bonds ostensibly to restore a depleted gold reserve, 
but the gold eventually went to pay current expenditures 
which persistently exceeded receipts, especially after the 
ill-considered Wilson tariff law went into effect. This 
law, which was framed to carry out " the Cleveland the- 
ory " on the tariff, was so amended in the Senate that the 
President took occasion in an effort to bring the Democratic 
Senators to terms to denounce it as perfidious, but he al- 
lowed it to become a law. It provided more revenue than 
the bill he desired would have provided, but not enough. 
Attached to it was an odious income tax, to please the Pop- 
ulistic contingent, but it was declared unconstitutional by 
the Supreme Court. The first three years abounded in 
manifestations of incompetence in nearly every depart- 
ment. Never has a single administration afforded such a 
-Totes. pie collapse of "greatness." States which have 
been Democratic for years have become in recent elections 
strongly Republican. A campaign of misrepresentation 
was followed by an era of popular enlightment. The 
policy of protection to American industries, of sound 
finance and of enlightened Americanism again found 
places in the hearts of the people. 



THE EN 



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